PRIME MINISTER

Departmental Staff

Bob Spink: To ask the Prime Minister how many staff in his Office are paid on a performance-related basis.

Tony Blair: For these purposes my office forms part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Mr. Murphy) on Monday 13 February 2006, Official Report, column 1543W.

Engagements

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister if he will visit Shrewsbury to meet leading charity organisations, councillors and the mayor.

Tony Blair: I have no current plans to do so.

Engagements

Peter Law: To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the memorandum prepared by Sir David Manning on matters discussed and decisions taken at his meeting with President Bush at the White House on 31 January 2003.

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister whether an official minute was made of his meeting with President Bush and his advisers on 31 January 2003.

Tony Blair: Information relating to internal meetings, discussion and advice is not disclosed as to do so could harm the frankness and candour of internal discussion.

Fair Trade

Andrew George: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  what his policy is on the procurement of fair trade produce for consumption in his Office;
	(2)  how much and what proportion of his Office's catering budget was spent on fair trade produce in the last period for which figures are available.

Tony Blair: For these purposes my Office forms part of the Cabinet Office and I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister for the Cabinet Office (Douglas Alexander) to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on 11 December 2003, Official Report, column 574W.

Governmental Structure (Parliamentary Approval)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to seek parliamentary approval for major changes to the structure and responsibilities of Government departments; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I continue to discharge my responsibilities as set out in the ministerial code.

Iraq

Mark Harper: To ask the Prime Minister on which dates he has visited British soldiers injured in Iraq; and what locations were visited.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the afternoon press briefing given by my official spokesman on 1 February 2006, a copy of which is available on the No. 10 website.

Parliamentary Questions

David Davies: To ask the Prime Minister how many parliamentary questions tabled in the last 12 months for answer by him on a named day (a) were transferred and (b) received a substantive answer (i) on the day named and (ii) after the day named.

Tony Blair: My office aims to answer all ordinary written parliamentary questions within five working days, and named day written parliamentary questions on the day named.
	In the period from January 2005 to January 2006, 181 named day parliamentary questions were tabled to my office. Of these, 135 received a substantive answer on the day named, five received a substantive answer after the day named, and 41 were transferred to another Government Department for reply.

Parliamentary Questions

David Davies: To ask the Prime Minister how many ordinary written parliamentary questions tabled for answer by him in the last 12 months have been answered (a) within 14 days, (b) between 14 and 28 days, (c) between 28 days and two months and (d) in excess of two months after the date of tabling; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: My office aims to answer all ordinary written parliamentary questions within five working days, and named day written parliamentary questions on the day named.
	In the period from January 2005 to January 2006, 331 ordinary written parliamentary questions received an answer within five working days. 41 questions were answered after five working days.

Prerogative Powers

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister how many decisions were taken by Ministers using prerogative powers in the last year for which figures are available.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael) on 25 June 2002, Official Report, column 802W.

Telephone Interceptions

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects to make an announcement on whether the ban on intercepting hon. and right hon. Members' telephone communications is to be lifted.

Tony Blair: I have nothing further to add to my written ministerial statement, 15 December 2005, Official Report, column 173WS and my answers at Prime Minister's Questions on 18 and 25 January.

Torture

David Howarth: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 852W, on torture, whether he understood the US Secretary of State's statement to represent a change in US policy.

Tony Blair: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member on 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 852W.

Torture

David Howarth: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 6 February 2006, Official Report, column 852W, on torture, what assessment he has made of whether the US's interpretations of its obligations under the convention against torture differ from internationally accepted interpretations of those obligations.

Tony Blair: Secretary of State Rice confirmed in her statement on 5 December 2005 that it is US policy to comply with the UN convention against torture. On ratifying the convention, the US entered a reservation stating that it
	considers itself bound by the obligation under Article 16 to prevent" cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" only insofar as the term cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" means the cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and/or Fourteenth Amendments to the constitution of the United States".
	The US also entered a number of formal understandings of its convention obligations. Other states have also made reservations and interpretative declarations in respect of their obligations under the convention.

Wars (Parliamentary Approval)

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Prime Minister if he will make it his policy to seek parliamentary approval, whenever practicable, before the UK goes to war; and if he will make a statement.

Tony Blair: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Mike Gapes) during my evidence to the Liaison Committee on Tuesday 7 February.

WALES

Crime Figures

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on recent crime figures in Wales.

Peter Hain: I am very pleased that during 2004–05 recorded crime in Wales fell by 7 per cent.

Police Reorganisation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received from Gwent (a) in favour and (b) against the proposed police reorganisation.

Peter Hain: In addition to meeting a wide range of stakeholders from across Wales, I have received seven letters from correspondents in Gwent—including from my hon. Friend. They are not easy to catalogue in the way requested. I can, however, inform the hon. Member that on 6 February the chief constable of Gwent said
	"We have more chance to give the public a policing service it desires by looking at the efficiencies of merging the four forces than we have as four forces standing alone."

Wind Farms

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what recent discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales Government on the development of onshore wind farms in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Peter Hain: I have regular discussions. In particular my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry is considering the application for Gwynt y Mor under the set procedures.
	I personally recognise the benefit to Wales of the project, which is capable of powering 500,000 homes.

Rail Links

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the National Assembly for Wales Government Minister for Economic Development and Transport on improving rail links from the South Wales Valleys to Cardiff.

Nick Ainger: My right hon. Friend and I regularly discuss transport matters with Welsh Assembly Government colleagues.
	The Assembly Government are providing almost £28 million for the Ebbw Valley railway project to accommodate passenger services between Ebbw Vale, Cardiff and Newport.

Disability Discrimination Act

Betty Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the likely impact of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 in Wales.

Nick Ainger: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a variety of topics. My hon. Friend the Minister for Disabled People (Mrs. McGuire) recently met Jane Hutt, the Assembly Equalities Minister, to discuss specific disability matters.
	From 4 December 2006 there will be a general duty on public sector bodies to promote equality of opportunity for disabled people.

Young Offenders

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on Government support to voluntary groups who help rehabilitate young offenders in Wales.

Nick Ainger: The Welsh Assembly Government currently provides assistance to the Nacro Cymru to support their work in rehabilitating young offenders in Wales.

Pathways to Work Pilot

Martyn Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the Pathways to Work pilot in Wales.

Nick Ainger: My right hon. Friend and I have regular discussions with ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including measures aimed at tackling economic inactivity, such as Pathways to Work.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

ACP Sugar Production

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of African, Caribbean and Pacific country sugar production was produced by Mauritius in the last period for which figures are available.

Ben Bradshaw: Total production in the ACP Sugar Protocol countries in 2004 was 4,391,190 tonnes. Production in Mauritius accounted for 13.8 per cent. of the total 1 .
	Preferential imports from ACP countries into the EU are planned to total 1,297,264 tonnes in the 200506 marketing year. Imports from Mauritius are planned to be 37.9 per cent. of that total.
	 1 Source
	ISO Sugar Year Book 2004

Biofuels

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many gallons of biofuel she estimates will have been sold in Shropshire by (a) 2009 and (b) 2015.

Elliot Morley: In November 2005, the Government announced that a Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation will be introduced. This will require 5 per cent. of all UK fuel to come from a renewable source by 2010. Target levels for 200809 and 200910 will be announced in Budget 2006.
	Information on fuel sales is not collected on a regional basis so it is not possible to give estimates for Shropshire. Provisional figures for 2005 for the whole of the UK give annual biodiesel and bioethanol sales of nearly 26 million gallons. To meet a 5 per cent. target at current usage would require around 540 million gallons.

Biomass Crop

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what EU funding is available for farmers to grow biomass crop.

Elliot Morley: DEFRA's energy crops scheme provides grants to establish short rotation coppice and miscanthus for use in heat and electricity generation, and to set up short rotation coppice producer groups. Part of the funding for this scheme comes from the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund. Under the Common Agricultural Policy, farmers can also receive the single payment when these energy crops are grown on set-aside land. They can be grown on single payment land if the EU's 45 per hectare energy aid payment is also claimed. Oilseed rape and wheat can be grown on set-aside land under contract for processing into transport biofuels. These crops can also be grown on single payment land and are then eligible for the energy aid payment.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what compensation was paid by her Department to farmers in Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency for cattle affected by bovine tuberculosis in (a) 2002 and (b) 2005;
	(2)  how many cases of bovine tuberculosis were registered in Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency in (a) 2002, (b) 2003 and (c) 2005.

Ben Bradshaw: Disaggregated data on compensation paid to farmers for cattle affected by bovine tuberculosis (TB) are not held centrally.
	Data on cases of bovine TB are not available at the level requested. Figures for the county of Shropshire are tabulated as follows.
	
		
			  Total new herd incidents Confirmed new herd incidents 
		
		
			 2002(1) 69 42 
			 2003 86 51 
			 2005 116 80 
		
	
	(1) in 2001, the TB testing and control programme was largely suspended due to the foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. When testing resumed in 2002, resources were concentrated on herds with overdue TB tests which would have had a longer period in which to contract the disease. Also the proportion of high risk herds tested immediately after the FMD outbreak was greater than that prior to the outbreak. As a result, data for 2002 is not comparable with other years.
	Note:
	2005 data downloaded from the State Veterinary Service database on 16 January 2006. 2002 and 2003 data downloaded on 19 May 2005. All data are provisional and subject to change as more data become available.

British Summertime

John Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the merits of introducing Double British Summertime as a means of improving the UK's record on climate change; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: A study by the Building Research Establishment commissioned by Defra for the purposes of the current review of the UK Climate Change Programme has concluded that, while a switch to Double British Summertime would reduce energy use for domestic lighting and non-domestic cooling, these savings would be more than offset by increased demand for non-domestic heating and lighting. The study therefore concluded that a switch to Double British Summertime was unlikely to lead to a reduction in the UK's carbon dioxide emissions.

Carbon Capture

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions she has had with other Departments on (a) the regulatory framework for carbon capture and storage in the UK and (b) tax incentives for large scale capture and storage demonstration projects; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The UK is working with other parties to clarify the legal basis for carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) under the marine treaties, as the treaties were not drafted to take CCS into account. A meeting of the contracting parties to the London convention in October 2006 will consider how best to facilitate and/or regulate carbon sequestration in the sub-seabed.
	Following interdepartmental consultation, which included with DEFRA, the Crown Estates and the Department of Trade and Industry, the DTI is setting up a task force to consider and develop if necessary the appropriate regulation to enable CCS activities in the UK. In addition, DEFRA is considering how marine planning aspects of CCS should be included in the Marine Bill.
	Tax issues are a matter for the Treasury and will be considered by the Chancellor as part of the Budget process. The 2005 Pre-Budget Report announced that the Government will consult further on the barriers to wide-scale commercial deployment of CCS in the UK, and the potential for economic incentives in addressing those barriers.

Carbon Trust Grants

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of Carbon Trust grants have been allocated to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and what guidance she has issued to the Trust on making grants to SMEs.

Elliot Morley: The Carbon Trust is a private company grant funded by DEFRA and the devolved administrations to lead on energy efficiency support for the business and public sector in the UK, and support the development of low carbon technology. Since the Trust is a private company DEFRA does not provide detailed guidance on its approach to its own work, however we are content that the Trust takes account of the needs of SMEs in developing its activities.
	The Carbon Trust inform me that in 200405 they provided over 18.1 million of direct support for SME's which accounts for just under a third of DEFRA Grant funding received.

Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding has been given by her Department to the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in each of the last five years.

Elliot Morley: DEFRA has given the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology the following funding in each of the last five years.
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 200001 4.11 
			 200102 3.23 
			 200203 4.18 
			 200304 4.11 
			 200405 3.32

Commercial Developments (Energy Efficiency  Standards)

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the change in the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from commercial buildings in England in each year since 1997; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: Estimates of carbon emissions from commercial buildings in England since 1997 are presented in the table.
	
		
			  Carbon emissions in million tonnes of carbon (MtC) Change in carbon emission compared to previous year (MtC) 
		
		
			 1997 10.5  
			 1998 10.6 0.1 
			 1999 10.0 -0.5 
			 2000 10.9 0.9 
			 2001 11.8 0.9 
			 2002 10.9 -0.9 
			 2003 11.5 0.6 
			 2004 11.7 0.3 
		
	
	These estimates are based on energy consumption data from the Digest of UK Statistics (DUKES) for the commercial and miscellaneous sectors. The data take account of emissions incurred by providing electricity and other forms of delivered energy for use in the buildings. Emissions for England have been estimated by scaling on the basis of the ratio of total carbon emissions from England for 2003 to that of the UK. The DUKES allocation between commercial and public sector may mean that this data underestimates emissions from the commercial sector. Much of the variation observed is attributable to annual changes in the emissions from electricity generation.

Commercial Developments (Energy Efficiency  Standards)

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of UK carbon dioxide emissions come from buildings other than household dwellings; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: In 2003, 13 per cent. of total UK carbon emissions arise from energy use in buildings in the service sector. This is based on delivered energy consumption data for the public, commercial and miscellaneous sectors published in DUKES 2005 (the service sector) and delivered energy emission factors for fuels used in buildings.
	In addition to energy used in the service sector a proportion of energy used by industry will be used to provide building services. Assuming 20 per cent. of carbon emissions for industry is for building services, non-domestic buildings would account for 18 per cent. of the UK carbon emissions in 2003.

Departmental Staff

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans her Department has to change the London allowance of its staff; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs does not pay an allowance to staff working in London.
	Instead it operates and maintains two separate sets of pay ranges for staff working in the London and national pay areas. The effect of this, is that for staff employed in the London pay area, they receive a pay lead over those staff employed in the national pay area.
	There are no immediate plans to consider changes to the existing differential pay arrangements that exist between the London and national pay areas. However, the Department will continue to monitor and evaluate the relative pay position of staff employed in the London pay area, with a particular focus on recruitment and retention issues.

Energy Efficiency

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the potential impact on the environment if each household (a) had one energy-efficient lightbulb fitted and (b) ceased to leave televisions on standby overnight.

Elliot Morley: Studies carried out by the Energy Saving Trust and Defra via the Market Transformation Programme estimate that:
	(a) if each UK household replaced a traditional light bulb with an equivalent compact fluorescent light they would save on average 33KWh of electricity per annumaround 840GWh per annum across the UK;
	(b) if all of the 63 million televisions in use in the UK were not left on standby the UK would save around 1,000 GWh per annum.

English Nature

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what role English Nature plays in (a) advising on and (b) approving regional spatial strategies of regional chambers.

Jim Knight: English Nature plays an important role in the planning process, as a statutory consultee, and in providing proactive guidance to regional and local authority planners on their regional spatial strategies (RSS). The agency contributes by responding to formal consultations, having strong involvement with RSS working groups, and advising on sustainability appraisal and strategic environmental assessment. The advice given by English Nature makes sure that biodiversity and geological conservation interests are taken fully into account during the decision making process.
	In particular, the Government's Planning Policy Statement 9 (published in August 2005) sets out policies on protection of biodiversity and geological conservation through the planning system. These policies need to be taken into account by regional planning bodies in the preparation of regional spatial strategies, and regional planning bodies should liaise closely with regional biodiversity fora or equivalent bodies, English Nature or its successors.

Environmental Policy

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the environmental implications of replacing glass bottles and glasses with plastic versions in pubs, clubs and bars.

Elliot Morley: The Department has not carried out such an assessment.

Farm Subsidies

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment her Department has made of the impact on hill farming of the timescale for implementing a replacement scheme for the hill farming allowance in (a) Westmorland and Lonsdale and (b) England.

Jim Knight: holding answer 13 February 2006
	The Hill Farm Allowance will end this year, when the current rural development programming period finishes. We are looking at the best ways to support upland communities using rural development funding from 2007 onwards. We will consult on the options shortly.

Farm Subsidies

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much in EU subsidies farmers in the UK received in each year between 1997 and 2005.

Ben Bradshaw: Farmers in the United Kingdom receive a variety of payments which are recorded in the income account of the economic accounts for agriculture prepared by DEFRA annually. A summary is show in the following table.
	
		 million
		
			  Calendar years 
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004(2) 2005(2) 
		
		
			 Coupled payments (less levies)  
			 Crop subsidies  
			 Arable area payments (excluding setaside) 1114 1051 1056 933 827 875 925 900  
			 Other crop subsidies 19 16 14 11 3 2 3 12 11 
			   
			 Livestock subsidies  
			 Beef producers 1116 923 902 899 831 980 960 1040 201 
			 Sheep producers 354 479 410 337 184 275 286 318  
			 Dairy producers22 79   108  
			   
			 Less levies:  
			 Milk superlevy -14 -32 -9 -15-8 -1 
			   
			 Total coupled payments 2588 2436 2373 2187 1923 2132 2174 2369 212 
			   
			 Decoupled and other payments  
			 Single Payment Scheme 2375 
			 Arable Area Payments on set-aside 90 88 170 127 180 143 177 129  
			 Animal disease compensation 15 14 20 29 23 54 61 49 55 
			 Less favoured areas support schemes 165 165 163 153 144 
			 Agri-environment schemes: 83 108 129 140 168 196 222 253 257 
			 Weather Aid  5
			 Total decoupled and other payments 189 210 318 297 536 562 622 585 2831 
			   
			 Total payments less levies 2777 2646 2692 2484 2459 2694 2796 2955 3043 
		
	
	(2) Provisonal
	Source:
	Defra Statistics

Fisheries

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the total weight of discards to date under the Common Fisheries Policy.

Ben Bradshaw: Discarding at sea is carried out not only as a result of quota limitations under the CFP, but also in reaction to the particular economics of the industry at the time, for example the prevailing prices of respective species. No systematic recording of this process is undertaken at community level to produce an accurate estimate of the total tonnage of all species discarded.

Flooding

Lee Scott: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made by (a) her Department and (b) the Environment Agency of the causes of the River Roding flood on 30 October 2000; and what (i) schemes are in place and (ii) plans have been made to prevent a future flood.

Elliot Morley: Defra has policy responsibility for management of flood risk in England, funds most of the Environment Agency's flood risk activities and provides grant aid on a project by project basis to the other flood risk management operating authorities to support their investment in improvement works. The Agency has powers to undertake works on designated main rivers while the London borough of Redbridge (LBR) has similar powers for ordinary watercourses. Defra has funded three studies carried out by LBR since 2000 on the non-main river aspects of flood risk.
	The Agency believes the flooding was primarily caused by the surface water drainage system backing up and being unable to discharge into the river. This affected properties and roads in the Chigwell Road area of Woodford Green.
	Since 2000, the Agency has carried out repairs to a low spot in the flood defences behind the Broadmead Baptist Church and selective de-silting and reed removal upstream and downstream of Chigwell Road to maintain channel flow capacity. Thames Water and LBR have repaired missing or broken flap valves to the outfalls in the river. This will prevent river water backing up into the drainage system at times of high flow but a risk of flooding remains because surface water drainage will not be able to discharge into the river during periods of high flows.
	The Agency is to complete a flood risk management strategy for the Roding Catchment early this summer. A flood storage area in the upper catchment of the Roding is considered to be the most sustainable solution, economically and environmentally. The Agency patrols for debris every other month, carries out annual tree/hedge/bankside vegetation management during winter months, ad-hoc blockage/obstruction removal and regular inspections and monitoring of flood defence assets.

Genetically Modified Organisms

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to enable post-release monitoring of the potential health and environmental effects of a genetically modified organism to take place as required by EU Directive 2001/18.

Elliot Morley: The UK has fully implemented directive 2001/18/EC. This directive requires that a company which submits an individual GMO for approval provides a plan setting out the post-market monitoring that they will carry out. This plan is then considered as part of the application, revised if necessary to the satisfaction of scientific experts, and its implementation is then made a condition of any consent issued.

Genetically Modified Organisms

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the public consultations on co-existence between genetically modified (GM) and non-GM crops is expected to begin.

Elliot Morley: We expect to issue a consultation paper this spring.

Gloucestershire Old Spot Pigs

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to secure from the EU traditional speciality guaranteed status for pork and bacon from pedigree Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs.

Ben Bradshaw: Officials have worked closely with the applicant group seeking to register the name, Gloucestershire Old Spots Pigmeat, as a traditional speciality guaranteed product (TSG) under the EU Protected Food Name Scheme. The application was forwarded to the Commission for their consideration in 2004. The Commission has six months within which to consider such applications although this period can be extended if the Commission raise questions about the application.
	We are still waiting to hear from the Commission whether it has got any queries about the application and share the concern of the applicant group about the long delay. That is why we have been in regular contact with the Commission over the last 18 months to chase up progress on this application. Until we hear from the Commission it is difficult to give an indication as to when the application process will be completed. Officials last contacted the Commission on 23 January 2006 and understand that a response is imminent.

GM Food

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the UK Government's position is on the European Commission's policy of imposing fines on the French government in relation to the adoption of EU legislation on the handling of genetically modified organisms, with particular reference to the need to introduce safety standards.

Anne McGuire: I have been asked to reply.
	Under the Treaty of Rome, it is properly the function of the European Commission to pursue action against member states that fail to implement EC Directives. The UK Governments' policy is to implement EU directives; Directive 90/219/EEC as amended by 98/81/EC on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms has been fully transposed into UK law.

Milk

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will visit Shrewsbury constituency to discuss milk prices with Shropshire dairy farmers.

Ben Bradshaw: Provided competition law is respected, the Government does not get involved in discussions about price. However, issues around the state of the industry are regularly discussed in the Dairy Supply Chain Forum, which is chaired by my noble Friend, Lord Bach. Ministers also make regular dairy-related visits, for example my noble Friend, Lord Bach visited a dairy farm on 27 January.

Monks Wood National Nature Reserve

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what discussions she has had with English Nature about the likely impact on Monks Wood National Nature Reserve of the proposed closure of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Research Establishment;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the likely impact on the management of Monks Wood National Nature Reserve of the proposed closure of the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Research Establishment.

Elliot Morley: The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is currently consulting widely with stakeholders on proposals on how best the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology can contribute on a sustainable basis to maintaining the quality of environmental science in the UK. DEFRA will be responding to this consultation.
	English Nature undertakes the management of the Monks Wood National Nature Reserve, and will also have the opportunity to respond to the consultation. NERC will need to consider all the evidence and views on the potential impact of the proposals, including any representations a bout the Monks Wood National Nature Reserve.

Organic Farming

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what percentage of farmland in each EU country is allocated to organic production.

Ben Bradshaw: The figures requested are given in the following table. In 2002 Austria had the highest proportion with 8.7 per cent. of farmland being dedicated to organic farming, Ireland and Greece were lowest with only 0.7 per cent. being dedicated organic land. As a whole, 3.8 per cent. of utilised agricultural area in EU-15 countries was dedicated to organic farming in 2002, up from 1.8 per cent. in 1998. Currently, 2002 are the most up to date figures available with these only being available for EU-15 countries.
	
		Percentage of farmland allocated to organic production 2002
		
			 Country Percentage of farmland organic 
		
		
			 Belgium 2.1 
			 Denmark 6.1 
			 Germany 4.1 
			 Greece 0.7 
			 Spain 2.6 
			 France 1.7 
			 Ireland 0.7 
			 Italy 7.5 
			 Luxembourg 2.2 
			 Netherlands 2.2 
			 Austria 8.7 
			 Portugal 2.3 
			 Finland 7.1 
			 Sweden 7.0 
			 United Kingdom 4.8 
		
	
	Source:
	Eurostat

Pedigree Cattle

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimates she has made of the value of pedigree (a) Hereford, (b) Charolais and (c) Dexter cattle aged (i) under six months, (ii) over three years, (iii) over five years, (iv) over 10 years and (v) over 12 years.

Ben Bradshaw: No such estimates have been made. However, to inform the development of the cattle compensation arrangements introduced on 1 February the Department has, for 14 months, been receiving cattle sales data from a wide range of sources across GB.
	Compensation for pedigree cattle, which is calculated on a monthly basis, is the average price obtained (for same category animals) at reported sales over the preceding 6 months. To inform this process data received through 2005 has been analysed to identify the degree of variability within each of the 47 cattle categories now used to help determine compensation. This review, which will be repeated on annual basis, provides the Department with intelligence on the amount of supporting data needed (in each category) to support table valuations.

Sea Bass

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  when she will publish (a) the outcome of the consultation on measures to increase the number and size of bass available to commercial and recreational fishermen and (b) the Government's response to the consultation; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the likely impact of the requirement to increase the minimum size of bass landed off England and Wales.

Ben Bradshaw: Defra's Consultation on measures to increase the number and size of bass available to commercial and recreational fishermen closed on 8 February 2006. The partial Regulatory Impact Assessment issued as part of the Consultation set out our understanding of the costs and benefits of the proposed measures.
	There have been a large number of responses from stakeholders to the consultation and there will now need to be a careful analysis of the responses and the information contained in them. Once this has been completed I will make an announcement on next steps.
	The Welsh Assembly Government is conducting a consultation on similar measures for Welsh Territorial waters, which closes on 14 February 2006.

Sewage Treatment Plants

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers local authorities have to act in respect of nuisance smells from sewage treatment plants.

Ben Bradshaw: Odour from the great majority of sewage treatment works can be dealt with under the statutory nuisance provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
	Local authorities have a statutory duty to check their areas periodically for existing and potential statutory nuisances, and to take reasonably practicable steps to investigate complaints made within their areas.
	It is for the appropriate local authority to determine whether a smell amounts to a statutory nuisance. Factors to be taken into account include the character of the locality, the duration of the smell and the frequency of its occurrence.
	Once satisfied that a statutory nuisance does or may occur, the local authority must serve an abatement notice requiring that the nuisance be ceased or abated within a specified time scale.
	It is an offence to breach or fail to comply with an abatement notice, with a maximum fine on conviction of 20,000 for industrial, trade or business premises.
	Defra is about to issue a Code of Practice on Odour Nuisance from Sewage Treatment Works to provide high level guidance on the handling and resolution of complaints.
	A few sewage treatment works are controlled under the Integrated Pollution and Control regime monitored by the Environment Agency. Local authorities cannot take action against these plants to abate odour under the statutory nuisance regime unless my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, gives consent, to avoid 'double jeopardy'.

Single Farm Payments

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the minimum amount of single farm payment is.

Jim Knight: The minimum total area that can be claimed by a farmer under the single payment scheme is O.3ha. If this area was situated in the moorland region the minimum payment for 2005, based on current estimations of the regional average, would be less than one pound.
	This calculation assumes that the applicant had no subsidy claims in the reference period of 200002, and therefore would only receive the area flat rate.

Sugar

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much sugar was imported into the UK in (a) 1977, (b) 1997 and (c) 2005.

Ben Bradshaw: In 1977 the UK imported 1,870,000 tonnes of sugar, by 1997 this had dropped to 1,358,000 tonnes and this dropped further in 2003 to 1,218,000 tonnes. These figures include imports of white, beet and cane sugar whether refined or not. They do not include high sugar content products such as honey, syrups and confectionery. All figures quoted are to the nearest thousand tonnes.

Timber

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what legal advice her Department received regarding the exclusion of social criteria in legislation relating to illegal timber imports and exports.

Elliot Morley: I am not aware of any legislation related to the import and export of timber that specifically prohibits social considerations from being considered in such commercial activity. This question is closely related to a request made by WWF UK to see the legal advice on which the Government's timber procurement policy was based and I shall explain why that request was declined.
	The European Treaty and European public procurement directives set principles and rules that govern the manner in which public contracting authorities specify their requirement, select potential bidders and award contracts. The UK Government's interpretation of these principles and rules has led it to conclude that it is not permissible for public sector contracting authorities to specify requirements that are not directly related to the subject matter of the contract in question and that criteria aimed at protecting or improving the economic and social well being of forest dependent people are generally not directly related to the subject matter of public sector contracts for works, goods and services.
	The advice that the Department received on this matter was a combination of guidance published by the European Commission, guidance published by the Office of Government Commerce and communications between Government officials. The published guidance documents were: the Commission's Interpretative Communication on the possibilities of integrating social issues into public procurement under Community law-see http://simap.eu.int/EN/pub/src/welcome.htm and Chapter 9 of the Joint Note on Environmental Issues in Purchasing-published by The Office of Government Commerce and Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in October 2003. The Office of Government Commerce have very recently published a Note on Social Issues in Purchasing to further clarify the position-see http://www.ogc.gov.uk/index.asp?docid=1004561
	The Government will not provide the information requested because we consider the public interest is best served by not disclosing the internal legal advice held by DEFRA. Decisions by Government must be taken in a fully informed legal context, which includes assessing the perceived weakness of its position. It follows that the disclosure of internal communications between Government officials could prejudice the government's ability to defend its legal interests-both directly by unfairly exposing its legal position to challenge and indirectly by diminishing the reliance it can place on the advice having been fully considered and presented without fear or favour.

Timber

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times action has been taken to stop illegal timber imports into the UK in the last 12 months; and what plans she has to improve her Department's performance in this area.

Elliot Morley: The UK is the world's fourth largest importer of wood products. However, it is not possible for action to be taken specifically to stop illegal timber imports into the UK in the last 12 months, as timber is not currently identified as legal or illegal at ports of entry. UK Customs have made seizures of wood and wood products under separate CITES legislation but legality of their sourcing is not material.
	Once the recently adopted EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation comes into force it will enable member states to prohibit the entry into the EU of illegal timber products from countries that enter into Partnership Agreements with the European Union.

Timber

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps the Government are taking to extend the requirement to consult the Central Point of Expertise on Timber to more public bodies.

Elliot Morley: The Government have not set a requirement for any public body to consult the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET). Central Government departments are required to seek to purchase legal and sustainable timber and are aware that CPET has a help line facility should they experience difficulty in obtaining such timber but they are free to choose not to seek help from CPET.
	CPET is a free service that is available to all public sector bodies and their suppliers should they have need of it. The Government are raising awareness of the CPET facility at conferences and training workshops and through press articles and direct mailing. A number of public bodies outside of central Government have sought advice from CPET and we expect the numbers of enquiries to increase as word spreads.

Timber

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if the Government will set a target for all Departments and other Government bodies to purchase only sustainable timber within five years.

Elliot Morley: The Environmental Audit Committee's Second Report of Session 20042005 on Sustainable Timber, paragraph number 91, concluded that it is
	vital for DEFRA to set a clear timetable for implementing a requirement for all departments and other government bodies, local and national, to purchase only sustainable timber. In our view five years would be a realistic deadline.
	I consider that it would be inappropriate for me to answer your question, which addresses exactly the same point made by the Committee, before the Government have formally responded to the Committee's Report.

Timber

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions the Government have had with the Austrian Government on taking forward Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: As part of the EU Presidency Troika we continue to be supportive of efforts to take forward the development of the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan and have been in regular contact with Austria.
	Work is now focused on implementing the FLEGT regulation and exploring additional options. Following a stakeholder consultation on additional options held in Brussels in January, the European Commission is now considering all the options raised. We expect the delayed report on this to be published by early summer 2006.

Timber

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects EU Ministers to discuss Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade and the EU Commission's report on relevant legislative options.

Elliot Morley: The next opportunity for EU Ministers to discuss Forest Law Enforcement Governance  Trade will be once the European Commission tables the Additional Options report later this year.
	Following the adoption of the FLEGT Action Plan by Council Conclusions in October 2003, (which committed the EU to exploring options to tackle the trade in illegally logged timber additional to the proposed FLEGT regulation), the UK Government has been frustrated at the time it has taken the Commission to produce this additional report.
	Officials attended a European stakeholder consultation meeting in Brussels on 31 January 2006. This was held by the European Commission and the UK's Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs). The European Commission will consider all the options and issues raised at the stakeholder consultation meeting and produce the delayed report on additional options by early summer 2006.

UN Environment Programme

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which Ministers represented the United Kingdom at the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) ninth special session of its governing council on 7th to 9th February in Dubai; what papers were circulated (a) by the United Kingdom delegation and (b) relevant to United Kingdom policies; and if she will place copies in the Library.

Elliot Morley: I led the UK delegation at the 9.SS of the UNEP GC/GMEF. He also attended the International Conference on Chemicals Management (36 February, Dubai). The Secretary of State attended the GMEF as a key note speaker on Energy and the Environment.
	The UK did not circulate any documents at the meeting.
	Working documents for the session, all of which are relevant to UK policy, can be found at:
	http://www.unep.org/GC/GCSS-IX/workingdocs.asp

UN Environment Programme

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representation the United Kingdom had at the United Nations Environment Programme's Seventh Global Civil Society (GCE) forum in Dubai on 56 February; what decisions were taken which affected United Kingdom policies; and if she will place in the Library a copy of the GCE statement.

Elliot Morley: The United Kingdom was represented at official level at the 7th GCE. No decisions were taken. The GCE statement will be placed in the Library.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Aid Distribution

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions his Department has had with non-governmental organisations, charities and civil society organisations on formulating policy on aid distribution.

Gareth Thomas: DFID officials and Ministers frequently have both formal and informal discussions with civil society organisations both in the UK and overseas on a wide variety of policy issues, including aid distribution. For example in the last year, NGOs have had input to the Commission for Africa report, the formulation of a new humanitarian policy and currently the preparation of DFID's new White Paper.

Departmental Staff

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many staff in his Department are paid on a performance-related basis.

Gareth Thomas: Within DFID, pay and performance management for staff in the Senior Civil Service (SCS) is fully compliant with the framework set by the Cabinet Office.
	All staff in grades below the SCS require a satisfactory performance rating to progress through the pay scales.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funding is being made available by (a) the UK Government and (b) the EU to the new Government in the South of Sudan.

Hilary Benn: The UK Government are committed to a contribution of 23.5 million over three years to the World Bank Multi Donor Trust Fund for the South (conditional on fund effectiveness). We have established a Basic Services Fund for the sponsorship of non-governmental organisations working in South Sudan on the delivery of basic health, education and water and sanitation. We are also assisting the Government of South Sudan with the setting up of basic institutional structures; the establishment of a functioning police force, and the development of basic legal systems. In addition, the UK Government are also providing early and significant contributions to the UN 2006 Work Plan for all of Sudan, from which the UN Humanitarian Coordinator has allocated some US$40 million for the South.
	The European Commission Country Strategy for Sudan (200507) allocates a total of 108 million, with the central focus on Food Security and Education. Other areas of focus include assistance with demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration of soldiers; human rights; good governance, rule of law, direct support to the peace process and peace building initiatives, and the strengthening of civil society and health. The Strategy is national in scope and does not allocate specific activities or funds for South Sudan.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what financial help his Department plans to make available to the representative assembly to be created in Juba, South Sudan; and what financial help his Department has provided to (a) the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and (b) non-SPLM parties.

Hilary Benn: The UK Government are focusing directly on assisting the Government of South Sudan with the formation of basic institutional structures. We are also a significant contributor to the World Bank Multi Donor Trust Fund for the South (23.5 million over three years) which includes government capacity building as one of its key objectives. We do not, for the time being, have plans to directly support the representative assembly to be created in Juba, South Sudan. The UK Government provide assistance to the Government of South Sudan as a single entity and does not differentiate between different political parties.

UN Fund for Women

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funds the UK has contributed to the UN Fund for Women in each year since 1997.

Gareth Thomas: The Department for International Development is the largest donor to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Total DFID funding to UNIFEM since 1997 is as follows:
	
		
			  Total funding (000) 
		
		
			 199798 1,150 
			 199899 150 
			 19992000 2,000 
			 200001 2,122 
			 200102 4,900 
			 200203 1,950 
			 200304 4,695 
			 200405 4,999 
		
	
	Note:
	Overall figures are not yet available for 200506. From 200304 onwards, the above figures include 3 million per annum in support of UNIFEM's core budget.

TRANSPORT

A27

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent on enquiries and consultation exercises relating to improvements on the A27 around Worthing in each of the last 12 years.

Stephen Ladyman: A number of studies relating to transport in the South East have included consideration of improvements to the A27 around Worthing but the costs cannot be disaggregated in the way requested.

A27

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the purpose has been of each of the enquiries and consultation exercises relating to improvements on the A27 around Worthing in each of the last 12 years.

Stephen Ladyman: Various enquiries and consultations have addressed transport needs in the South East as well as seeking solutions to traffic congestion both on the A27 and more generally in the town of Worthing. They have included assessment of the contribution which local transport measures can make to the reduction of congestion, as well as road improvements.

Commercial Flights (Hornsey and Wood Green)

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many commercial flights have overflown Hornsey and Wood Green constituency in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement.

Karen Buck: This information is not held by my Department. If the hon. Member writes to the Chief Executive of National Air Traffic Services Ltd., they will provide the information requested.

Driving (Bio-optical Spectacles)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the use of bio-optical spectacles to facilitate driving for people with imperfect eyesight; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Ladyman: The minimum standards of medical fitness to drive are laid down in the second EC directive on driving licences (Directive 91/439/EEC).
	The use of bioptic devices has been considered by a Medical Expert Working Group established by the EC Driving Licence Committee to consider conditions affecting vision and their impact on driving. The Working Group acknowledged that bioptic devices might help individual drivers but recognised that, to do so, visual acuity standards would have to be lowered and that this might be at the expense of an adequate field of vision. The general opinion of the Working Group expert members is that on European roads, lowering the acuity standard in this way would be difficult to justify. Further research evidence and technological development of the bioptic devices will be needed.

Greater Manchester (Smartcards)

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with Greater Manchester bus, rail and tram operators and the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive on the introduction of smartcard technology for pre-travel payment on public transport in the county.

Stephen Ladyman: There was correspondence in December 2003 between the Department and Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority about the planned introduction of smartcards in Greater Manchester. This correspondence related to the ITSO specification for an interoperable ticketing interface for smartcards in travel.
	Officials have had informal discussions with Greater Manchester PTE on a number of occasions about the proposed Readycard smartcard scheme, also in the context of the ITSO standard. Officials also attended a GMPTE ITSO workshop last year.

Light Rail/Tram Schemes

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his plans are for the future funding of light rail and tram schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 9 November 2005, Official Report, column 511W.

M60

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress has been made in (a) ascertaining responsibility for and (b) rectifying the flooding problem on the M60 between Denton and Hollinwood, Oldham; and whether enforcement action will be taken to ensure its rectification without the requirement for further public funding.

Stephen Ladyman: There is no requirement to ascertain responsibility nor seek enforcement against third parties as the need for modification of the carriageway surface to alleviate spray (flooding) arose from reasons other than negligent performance by the scheme contractors.
	An initial works pilot to re-profile a section of the affected carriageway to improve surface drainage has now been planned for spring 2006, with the remainder of the work likely to be undertaken in 2007.

Mobile Speed Cameras

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether notice is required to be given of the siting of a mobile speed camera.

Stephen Ladyman: Safety Camera Partnerships within the National Safety Camera Programme are asked to inform the public about the location of camera sites and the type of camera used. The partnerships are not required to give notice of when enforcement will take place at a camera site but all sites must be signed and visible in accordance with the Handbook of Rules and Guidance for the National Safety Camera Programme for England and Wales.
	The police may also enforce speed limits using mobile enforcement equipment at any location without giving prior notification.

Network Rail

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what arrangements have been made for the Government to guarantee Network Rail's debt;
	(2)  what ceiling the Government has placed on its guarantees of Network Rail's debts.

Derek Twigg: I refer the hon. Member to the statements made by the Secretary of State and parliamentary minutes laid on 27 June 2002, Official Report, columns 971989. 4 February 2004 and 15 September 2004 Official Report, column 152WS.
	The credit support arrangements described in these minutes were initially provided by the Strategic Rail Authority, but were transferred to the Secretary of State for Transport on 26 June 2005 by a transfer scheme made under powers in the Railways Act 2005.

Night Flights

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will publish the results of the Government's night flights consultation.

Karen Buck: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 17 January 2006, given to the hon. Member for Windsor (Adam Afriyie), Official Report, column 1190W.

Red Routes

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions his Department has had with (a) metropolitan local authorities and (b) passenger transport executives on the introduction of red route measures to principal transport corridors in cities and conurbations.

Karen Buck: The only PTE to develop and implement proposals for red routes is Centro, in the West Midlands. Centro are currently implementing a package of measures in Birmingham, Solihull, Wolverhampton and Sandwell as part of a major scheme bid that was given full approval in 2004 by the Department at a cost of 28 million. This scheme is the first of five packages proposed to introduce a total of 130 km of red routes, bus relocations, side road entry treatments, new signs and junction improvements.
	The traffic signs required to implement a red route scheme are not prescribed and as such need special authorisation by the Secretary of State. It is not unusual for local authorities contemplating the use of non prescribed signs to contact the Department, but we do not keep records of informal inquiries.

Speed Cameras

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many speed cameras have been vandalised in each police authority in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department does not hold this information nor are partnerships required to provide information about vandalism at speed camera sites to the Department. This information may be available directly from partnerships.

Vandalism

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the acts of vandalism which have been perpetrated (a) inside and (b) on the outside of his Department's buildings in the last 12 months.

Karen Buck: There were five recorded acts of vandalism perpetrated inside the Department for Transport during the calendar year 2005. There were three at the Driving Standards Agency regional premises and two at the Driving Vehicle Licensing Agency premises. These incidents included damage to internal doors, cabinets, the discharging of a fire extinguisher, damage to a vending machine and an interview room counter screen.
	There were 55 acts of vandalism perpetrated outside the Department for Transport (at regional agency premises) during the calendar year 2005. These incidents included damaged windows, damage occurring during break-ins, and a few instances of minor arson and damage to vehicles and heating vents.
	In addition there have been other minor acts of vandalism known to have occurred outside of agency regional premises for which full details are not available.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Academies

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the impact of academies upon the academic performance of children from the lowest socio-economic background.

Jacqui Smith: Academies are established in some of the most deprived and disadvantaged communities in our country, and admit a high proportion of children from the most disadvantaged socio-economic background. The majority of academies have a significantly higher proportion of children with eligibility for free school meals (FSM) relative to both local authority and national averages. Indeed the average FSM eligibility at academies is 34 per cent., compared to a national average of 14 per cent.
	PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) are undertaking a full independent evaluation of the academies programme over five years and a comprehensive assessment of the impact of academies upon academic performance will form a vital part of this evaluation.
	Improvements in GCSE results are already in evidence, despite many pupils only having attended their academy for a few terms. Of the 14 academies open at the time of the last round of GCSE examinations, all but two showed an increase in the proportion of students achieving five grades A* to C relative to their predecessor schools, and the average increase between 2004 and 2005 in the number of students gaining five grades A* to C across all academies was 7.8 percentage points; some three times the national average.
	Several academies have shown remarkable improvements in their GCSE results since opening. The City Academy in Bristol, for example, has shown an increase of 25 percentage points in the number of pupils achieving five grades A* to C in just two years. Four other academies have shown increases of greater than 20 percentage points since opening.

After-school Activities

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she has taken to encourage young people in Swindon to get involved in (a) after-school activities and (b) sports programmes.

Maria Eagle: We have set out a core offer of extended services and activities that we want all children to be able to access through schools by 2010. This includes a varied menu of study support activities, including sportat least two hours a week beyond the school day for those who want it. It is for individual local authorities (LAs) and schools to determine what provision best meets the needs of the young people in their area.
	Funding for study support is available to all schools and LAs through their base budgets, and also via the School Development Grant which, for Swindon, amounts to 1,366,981 in 200506. Funding (approximately 100,000 pa) is also provided for the well established Playing for Success Centre at Swindon Town FC, which benefits more than 350 pupils each year.
	We have also committed considerable additional funding to support schools in setting up and embedding extended services and activities. A total of 2,050,321 has been allocated to Swindon over three years from 200506.

Bicton Church of England School

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the (a) budget for and (b) expenditure on the building of the new Bicton Church of England School in Bicton was.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested for Bicton Church of England School for the 200405 financial year is:
	(a) Total planned budget share (including any grants devolved to the school) was 255,875.
	(b) Total gross expenditure (including any capital expenditure from revenue) was 271,647.
	Notes
	1. Data are drawn from Shropshire local authority's 200405 Section 52 Budget and Outturn Statements as at 8 February 2006.
	2. The 200405 budget information is the combination of the school's total budget share plus any School Standards Grant, Devolved Standards Fund and Excellence in Cities Grant allocated to the school (Threshold and Performance Pay Grant is included in 200506).
	3. School expenditure does not include any income.
	4. In 200405 the total resources available to Bicton Church of England School was 296,262. This is the sum of the following:
	Balance brought forward
	Delegated funds
	SEN and minority ethnic pupils
	Standards fund residue
	Other Government grants
	Income generated by schools
	5. Shropshire local authority also reported a surplus total revenue balance of just under 25,000 was held by Bicton Church of England School at the end of the 200405 financial year.

Bullying

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what training teachers receive to deal with bullying in schools; and how much funding her Department has allocated for training teachers to deal with bullying in schools in (a) West Lancashire and (b) England in the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: Training has been provided in each Government Office region through the Make The Difference conferences and through training events run by the Anti-Bullying Alliance and direct work by the Alliance with individual schools. Training is also being provided through dissemination events linked to forthcoming advice on countering prejudice driven bullying.
	Through the national strategies the Department makes high-quality staff training materials on managing behaviour, including bullying, available to all schools. In addition each local authority is also supported by at least one expert behaviour and attendance consultant in each local authority.
	Through the National Programme for Specialist Leaders of Behaviour and Attendance (NPSL-BA), the Department has developed a programme for training specialist staff who have leadership roles in relation to behaviour and attendance, including anti-bullying.
	In addition our resources such as the Anti-Bullying Charter and 'Don't Suffer in Silence' offer further support and advice to teachers in this area.
	As anti-bullying training funding is not disaggregated or devolved directly, it is not possible to identify national funds or funds for West Lancashire.

Child Care Provision

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many child care places (a) for under fives and (b) in total there were in each year since 1980, broken down by type.

Beverley Hughes: This information was not collected for the period prior to 198990.
	Details of the number of child care places available in England for each year between 1990 and 2005 are given in the table.
	(a) Figures from Day Care Facilities Surveys (DCFS), 199097
	
		
			  Total number of child care places (a + b + c) Childminders (a) Full Daycare (b) Out of School/ Holiday Clubs (c) Sessional care (d) 
		
		
			 198990 303,100 205,600 97,500 No figures 416,400 
			 199091 339,400 233,300 106,100 No figures 428,400 
			 199192 390,900 254,300 116,800 19,800 414,500 
			 199293 469,533 300,700 133,800 35,033 396,900 
			 199394 549,300 357,500 147,600 44,200 411,300 
			 199495 614,000 373,600 161,500 78,900 410,600 
			 199596 646,467 376,200 178,300 91,967 397,700 
			 199697 654,900 365,200 193,800 95,900 383,700 
		
	
	(b) Using data from
	i. 19972003: Ofsted registered equivalent statistics generated by DfES from local authority returns; and,
	ii. 2003-present: Ofsted registrations
	
		
			  Total child care places (a + b + c) Childminders (a) Full Daycare (b) Out of School/ Holiday Clubs (c) Sessional care (d) 
		
		
			 199697 637,730 309,973 283,975 43,782  
			 199798 643,736 309,918 283,823 48,995  
			 199899 688,412 309,423 299,078 79,911  
			 199900 746,719 304,926 316,021 125,772  
			 200001 821,537 300,263 337,004 184,270  
			 200102 892,726 307,485 358,371 226,870  
			 200203 967,821 300,883 381,550 285,388 280,779 
			 200304 1,102,686 319,689 456,298 326,699 274,135 
			 200405 1,175,275 316,089 517,975 341,211 249,647 
		
	
	We do not have a breakdown of age groups for childminder, out of school or sessional places. The overwhelming majority of Full Daycare places are for children under the age of 5.

Child Employment

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the recommendations of the Better Regulation Task Force on employment law relating to children; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans she has to implement the recommendations of the Better Regulation Task Force on employment law relating to children;
	(3)  what discussions she has held with the Department for Trade and Industry on (a) regulations for the time at which children can start work in the morning and (b) the impact of earlier school day starts;
	(4)  if she will seek to amend legislation to enable children to start work at 6.30 a.m. in response to the earlier start of the school day in some areas.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 14 February 2006
	The Government believe that suitable work opportunities, based on individual choice, can be beneficial for young people. Nevertheless, children's entitlement to education is paramount. The existing limits on children's working hours are framed to ensure that neither their readiness to learn when they arrive at school, nor their capacity to do school homework, nor their opportunity for necessary rest and leisure, is compromised by the demands of employment. There are no plans to change this, and no discussions with DTI on the issue have been held.
	Guidance has been given to local authorities that Directors of Children's Services should have functions relating to child employment as part of their remit, as recommended by the Task Force. No final decisions have been taken on whether and how the Task Force's other specific proposals will be implemented. They will only be implemented to the extent that they can demonstrate a clear contribution to the key outcomes which we want to see for all children, described in our Green Paper Every Child Matters.

Class Sizes

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average class size is in (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in (i) England, (ii) the Tees Valley and (iii) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

Jacqui Smith: The requested information is given in the following table.
	
		Maintained primary and secondary schools(3): average class size(4)(5)as at January 2005.
		
			  Primary Secondary 
			  Number of classes Number of pupils in classes Average class size Number of classes Number of pupils in classes Average class size 
		
		
			 England 146,860 3,851,810 26.2 143,500 3,108,020 21.7 
			 Tees Valley(6) 2,270 56,680 25.0 1,820 40,330 22.2 
			 Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland 330 7,640 23.4 160 3,600 23.1 
		
	
	(3) Includes middle schools as deemed.
	(4) One teacher classes.
	(5) Classes as taught during one selected period on the day of the census in January.
	(6) Includes Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Stockton-on-Tees and Darlington local authorities.
	Note:
	Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.
	Source:
	Annual Schools Census

Connexions

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what evidence she has received of fraudulent use being made of the Connexions Card.

Maria Eagle: The Department has no evidence of Connexions Card holders attempting to claim rewards and discounts available under the scheme fraudulently. However, there is evidence of 17 young people attempting to use the Connexions Card to obtain age related services they were not entitled to. These incidences took place between 2004 and 2006 and were brought to our attention through the action of the police and licensees.

Connexions

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the Connexions Agency will assist 16-year-olds to apply for benefits to which they are entitled.

Maria Eagle: The role of Connexions includes ensuring that young people up to the age of 19 years are aware of and able to obtain the benefits to which they are entitled.
	The most recent guidance to Connexions services states:
	The Connexions Service is required to provide young people with general information about Young Persons Bridging Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance, extended Child Benefit and other social security benefits. This includes giving details about how these allowances/benefits can be claimed and the rights and responsibilities associated with them.
	Connexions Services must have agreed arrangements in place to register young people for work or learning, and be able to confirm a young person's registration with Jobcentre Plus where required.

Curriculum Online

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the percentage of teachers using Curriculum Online; and what the trends of such usage have been since its introduction.

Phil Hope: Curriculum Online is a successful way of helping teachers to find appropriate resources to meet the educational needs of individual learners. In 2002, the DfES commissioned the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) and Bristol university to conduct a four year evaluation of Curriculum Online to examine educational impacts, operational effectiveness and impact on the suppliers of educational digital materials.
	The evaluation of educational impacts is being conducted by NatCen and comprises a series of three surveys of teachers (winter 2002, autumn 2004 and the final report in March 2006) and two qualitative studies (the first was published in autumn 2004 and the second in winter 2005). The findings of the qualitative studies are that almost three fifths (58 per cent.) of school respondents in primary schools and 78 per cent. in secondary schools said that they used the Curriculum Online website as a source of information when selecting software.
	The latest statistics (September 2005) show that the website attracts around 100 thousand users per month, these figures represent a 300 per cent. increase over September 2004.

Departmental Catering Budget

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her Department's policy is on the procurement of fair trade produce for consumption on its premises.

Maria Eagle: The Department encourages the sale of FairTrade and ethical products through our restaurant services that are provided by an external partner and has a range of products available for purchase consisting of coffee, tea, chocolate bars and fruit juices.

Departmental Expenditure

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the savings made in the last two financial years as a consequence of (a) streamlined data collection and (b) reduced reporting and monitoring requirements for schools.

Jacqui Smith: No quantitative assessment has been made, partly because this would itself place significant burdens on schools. Informal feedback suggests that new data collection arrangements are working effectively, with schools and authorities reporting that processes are more efficient and less resource-intensive, while the data that is made available to them is of greater help for their own management. Six pre-existing surveys have been incorporated into the Schools Census, lowering the overall burdens of collecting from schools.
	The Implementation Review Unit (IRU) is an independent panel of serving senior school practitioners which reviews the implementation of existing and new policy initiatives. The IRU has encouraged the Department to introduce a system of impact assessment for all initiatives that have workload implications in schools, including data collection and reporting and monitoring requirements. The 200405 IRU annual report welcomed the reduction in the number of new initiatives in 2005, down by 56 per cent. on 2004.

Education Finance

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how Government grants for education will be affected by the White Paper proposals;
	(2)  what changes are expected under the White Paper proposals with respect to councils' allocated education budget; and what assessment she has made of the possible effects on levels of council tax.

Jacqui Smith: One of the main changes arising from the White Paper will be a greater emphasis on Personalised Learning, with its stronger focus on English and mathematics, and on those children who have a particular gift or talent. We see this greater focus as being key to driving up standards and to tackling the persistent achievement gaps between social and ethnic groups.
	As I stated in the Schools Funding announcement on 7 December 2005, funds within the new Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) have been specifically earmarked for Personalised Learning. Primary schools will receive an additional 230 million by 200708, while 335 million will be available for secondary schools to deliver personalised learning for 11 to 14-year-olds.
	Those schools with the highest number of children who have fallen behind in English and maths will receive a further targeted 60 million grant in each of 200607 and 200708, shared equally across the primary and secondary sectors, to provide more effective one-to-one and small group tuition.
	In making arrangements for the DSG and its distribution, we have allowed for the White Paper policies of more independent schools entering the maintained sector, and for more schools becoming academies. We do not otherwise expect that the White Paper will affect the Schools Budgets of authorities.
	In so far as White Paper policies cause increased costs to affect the LEA Budgets of authorities, we will provide extra funding under the New Burdens rules. We do not therefore expect there to be an impact on council tax.

Education Finance

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what factors determined the funding allocation for Hertfordshire Local Education Authority's dedicated schools grant per pupil for 200607.

Jacqui Smith: I refer the hon. Member to my statement of 7 December, which set out the factors used to determine the allocations of Dedicated Schools Grant for all authorities. That statement and more detailed information may be found on the Teachernet website at:
	www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/schoolfunding/200607_funding_arrangements/

Education Finance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her Department's estimate is of the total cost to public funds of putting a child through state schooling from the age of 5 to 16 years.

Jacqui Smith: The estimated average cost of educating a pupil from the age of 5 to 16 years is 45,000.
	Notes:
	1. The figure quoted is an estimate and has been rounded to the nearest 5,000.
	2. The cost of educating from age 5 to 16 has been calculated as follows. The per pupil funding figure for 510 year olds in England in 200506 is multiplied by 6 (for the 6 years of funding a child would receive between the age of 5 and 10) and the per pupil figure for 1115 year olds is multiplied by 5. The two figures are then added.
	3. Figures in 200506 prices.
	4. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES Departmental Expenditure Limits relevant to pupils aged 515 and exclude Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level.
	5. The pupil numbers used to convert  million figures to  per pupil are those underlying the EFS settlement calculations.

Education Funding

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what extra funds are available for schools with outstanding results.

Jacqui Smith: We do not provide additional funding to schools for the achievement of outstanding results, but we are actively harnessing the strengths of our most effective schools for the benefit of the system as a whole. Where schools are playing a wider role in support of the education system we make funding available to support that commitment. We have offered the opportunity for specialist schools that meet performance criteria at specialist re-designation, to take on a leading role. In 2005, high performing schools had the opportunity to take on a second specialism, a vocational second specialism, training school status, or participate in a raising achievement programme. Schools receive a minimum of 60,000 per annum to work in partnership with other schools to raise standards and improve pupil outcomes across the partnership.
	At primary level around 1,800 of our most successful Head teachers are working as Primary Strategy Consultant Leaders (PSCLs) to help the leadership teams in underperforming schools in their local authority to develop and improve teaching and learning across their schools. Each PSCL receives 8,000 to cover the time spent out of their school. We have also funded Primary National Strategy Learning Networks which enable groups of primary schools to work together to raise standards in English and mathematics. Lead schools in the networks, which are usually successful or high performing schools, receive 17,000 in total to support the network activity.

Education Funding

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the allocation of funding for schools in rural areas in 200607.

Jacqui Smith: The formula used to calculate Schools Formula Spending Share for 200506 and previous years took account of the extra spending needed by sparsely populated rural authorities, mainly to keep larger numbers of small primary schools open; the additional costs for secondary schools are mainly from home to school transport, funding for which was delivered through the LEA FSS for 200506, and which continues to be part of the local government finance settlement. Since the formula for Dedicated Schools Grant starts from local authorities' spending on schools for 200506, which in two thirds of cases was above Schools FSS, so that will also take account of the extra spending needed by rural authorities. In distributing their Schools Budget, most local authority formulae take account of the need to provide extra funding for smaller schools, to allow them to meet the extra costs they face, that a purely pupil led formula would not deliver.

Education Funding

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills why funding for colleges with students taking more than four AS levels is being reduced in the 2006/07 funding allocation.

Bill Rammell: The funding colleges receive for students taking larger programmes of study is reduced on the principle that colleges derive economies of scale as pupils take more intensive programmes, as costs do not rise in proportion to the size of the programme. It will continue to be the case that no funding is paid for parts of programmes larger than the equivalent of 6 AS/A2 levels. The current arrangements allow for the equivalent of 5AS/A2 levels to be fully funded with the sixth being funded at half the standard rate.
	On 21 October as part of the announcements of our funding strategy for post 16 education and skills in 2006/07 and 2007/08 we set out our plans to revise the maximum qualification funding for both school sixth forms and FE colleges. The revised arrangement for colleges will allow full funding for the equivalent of 4.25 AS/A2 levels with the next 1.75 AS/A2 levels being funded at two thirds the standard rate. The revised maximum level of funding has been set to reflect the aim to encourage breadth at AS with more specialisation at A2.
	The maximum qualification funding does not include the additional per pupil funding available for key skills, tuition support and enrichment activities. It is possible to make use of this funding to fund courses of enrichment activities rather than seek funding for such courses as separate qualifications. We need to ensure an equitable share of resources between schools and across a range of pupils with different needs. The LSC's funding system recognises both the additional costs of larger programmes while maintaining a proper level of funding for those pupils unable to study a larger number of AS/A2 levels.

Education Procurement Centre of Excellence

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the (a) changes in performance and (b) savings made as a consequence of the establishment of the Education Procurement Centre of Excellence.

Bill Rammell: Since the Department for Education and Skills established the Centre for Procurement Performance (CPP) in April 2005, the team has been working pro-actively with the schools sector, children services, Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) to embed the principles of the Gershon Review and secure commitment from the front line. Working with and through key stakeholders in these sectors, CPP has engaged with procurement experts in the sectors, working in partnership on projects and pilots that will help deliver efficiency gains.
	This has resulted in nine projects currently underway and a further 14 projects due to commence shortly. At this stage it is too early to assess changes in procurement performance as a result.
	The validated procurement efficiency gains to date have amounted to 87 million.

Education Professionals

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she has taken to enable frontline professionals in (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) higher education institutions to use their time more productively; and what assessment she has made of the efficiency gains made as a consequence.

Jacqui Smith: My Department has developed a wide range of initiatives to enable frontline professionals to use their time more productively. These focus on greater use of ICT; reducing bureaucracy; and workforce reorganisation and training.
	We are promoting the use of ICT in schools to enable easier and quicker assessment of students' progress and simpler, more timely, and more personalised remedial action to be taken. It will also enable easier and quicker access to online resources, make lesson planning easier and save time for teachers; and lead to better quality lessons and an enriched classroom environment which improve standards for our children.
	We have better embedded ICT in the further education sector through the development of a self assessment tool for institutions, better provision of on-line e-learning materials and through development of e-learning training provision for leaders.
	To minimise any unnecessary bureaucracy burdens on frontline staff and thereby help them to function more productively we have established gateway groups in each sector to look at the level of bureaucracy being imposed on the frontline and to challenge existing ways of working with the frontline and between agencies. In, for example, the Higher Education sector we have established the Higher Education Regulation Review Group as an independent group of practitioners working in the HE sector and asked them to help identify new and additional ways to reduce existing burdens, as well as reviewing all new Government policies to try and ensure they do not create unnecessary bureaucracy.
	The workforce reforms we have introduced have also helped professionals to make better use of their time. In January 2003, the Government, employers and majority of the school workforce unions signed a National Agreement on Raising Standards and Tackling Workload that led to a series of changes to teachers' contracts. Teachers have been freed to teach and a wide range of support staff have been deployed to work with teachers in improving standards of teaching and learning.
	Each of these initiatives contributes to our Gershon target of realising 4.3 billion efficiency gains by 200708. Productive time savings are expected to be the biggest slice of those gains.
	My Department reported progress towards our Gershon Review target in the Department's Autumn Performance Report. It will report further progress in the Departmental Annual Report which we expect to publish in April.

Efficiency Gains

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the of the efficiency gains that have been achieved in the last two years as a consequence of improvements in school-level financial management.

Jacqui Smith: Because of the relatively recent inception of policies to assist schools in their financial management, it is too early to evaluate of their success, especially when success is measured in terms of improved pupil attainment. Policies that have been launched include: the Financial Benchmarking Website (November 2003), the Financial Management Standard and Toolkit (May 2004) and focussed financial management training for finance officers, head teachers and bursars/school business managers in schools and local authorities.
	Our measurement techniques have been designed to ensure that we can monitor and report efficiency gains throughout the Gershon review period, which starts in the current financial year, 200506. Because of the timing of our data collections from schools we shall be able to report the first of these measures towards the end of the current calendar year.
	We do, however, collect very detailed financial benchmarking website user statistics, so we are able to track accurately how many schools and local authorities are using the tools, which provides an indication of the gains we may expect to see in subsequent years. Case study information is also gathered, providing information about the kind of gains schools make through using the website. An example of such a gain was a school which reported gains of 6,000 a year on water rates as a result of action taken after using the benchmarking website.

Efficiency Gains

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what savings have been obtained in (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) higher education institutions in the last two financial years as a consequence of (i) investment in information communication technology, (ii) reducing administrative burdens and (iii) work force reform.

Phil Hope: My Department does not keep detailed management information on spending decisions by individual schools, colleges and higher education institutions. However, we have put in place methods to measure efficiency gains accruing through a range of specific initiatives which contribute to our Gershon efficiency target. These are set out in our Efficiency Technical Note. In most cases the gains are recyclable at the frontline into other activities rather than being clawed back by the Department.
	My Department reports progress towards our efficiency target through existing departmental reporting processes. We reported progress towards our target in the Department's autumn performance report and will report further progress in the departmental annual report which we expect to publish in April.

Family and Friends Placements

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what strategies her Department is pursuing to assist local authorities further to develop and support family and friends placements for care of children; and if she will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: We are committed to helping local authorities to improve the use and support of family and friends carers, both for children who are looked after by local authorities and those who remain the legal responsibility of their families.
	Information has already been included on the Every Child Matters website about the legal arrangements for caring for a child by family and friends, which cover issues such as parental responsibility, the availability of universal services and benefits, together with details of support that may be provided by local authorities. Practitioners may find this useful when providing advice to carers and potential carers.
	Work is being taken forward to ensure that children who cannot live with their birth parents are instead enabled to live in the most appropriate alternative placement for them.

Family and Friends Placements

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she next plans to review the operation of the Common Assessment Framework with regard to children in family and friends placements.

Maria Eagle: The Common Assessment Framework aims to help identify children's additional needs at an early stage, taking a holistic view of their circumstances, including a specific focus on the involvement of parents or carers. When needs have been identified, the Framework will help relevant practitioners to communicate and agree timely and co-ordinated support.
	Practitioners will be able to use the Framework to assess the additional needs of children who are cared for by family or friends, where that would add value. However in many cases such children will already have assessments, and there is no intention to duplicate processes.
	The Framework is currently being reviewed through trials in a number of local areas across England, with a view to national implementation over 200608. The University of East Anglia, on behalf of my Department, is currently evaluating the trials to inform revisions to the relevant forms, processes, guidance and training materials, which the Government intends to issue by April 2006. The Government's intention is that the Framework will continue to include a specific focus on assessing a child's needs for parenting and care, and that it will be relevant for use with children in families and friends placements where appropriate.

Framework Contracts

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the effects on costs have been in the last two financial years as a consequence of nationally-brokered framework contracts for the acquisition of (a) computers and (b) interactive whiteboards for schools.

Phil Hope: The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) is making significant progress in delivering improved value for money for schools. The approach of national frameworks linked to regional aggregation of demands, coupled with local choice, provides a range of benefits for schools which otherwise would not be realised. The overall effect has been to reduce costs significantly. The total saving from these initiatives so far is 75.8 million.
	Savings achieved through the laptop framework agreement are 17.6 million in 200304; 9 million in 200405; and 4.5 million from April 2005 to December 2005. Savings achieved through the interactive whiteboard framework agreement are 17 million in 200405; and 6.6 million from April 2005 to December 2005.
	Significant progress is being made on operating and office productivity software used on computers. Becta negotiated a memorandum of understanding with Microsoft. The potential savings for schools are 46 million over three years and equates to typical savings for schools of between 20 per cent. and 37 per cent. dependent upon the mix of software used. Savings achieved so far are 2.6 million from January 2004 to March 2004; 10.6 million in 200405; and 7.9 million from April 2005 to December 2005.
	Becta is developing a more comprehensive range of framework agreements in order to obtain best value for money on behalf of our schools.

Further Education

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will extend fee remission for further education courses to pensioners in receipt of pensions credit.

Bill Rammell: We are committed to ensuring further education (FE) serves the needs of the whole community and those learners, and their dependants, receiving a means tested benefit, and unemployed people on Jobseekers Allowance will continue to benefit from free tuition on publicly funded courses. Older learners receiving the Pension (Guarantee) Credit are already eligible for free learning on publicly funded FE courses. The Learning and Skills Council policies on funding free learning (fee remission) are based on the principle that those on low incomes should not have to contribute to the tuition costs of their learning. Learners of any age will continue to have access to literacy, numeracy and English language courses free of charge, as well as free tuition to undertake a first full level 2 qualification.

GCSE Results

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what proportion of pupils achieved five GCSEs grade A* to C including mathematics and English in (a) community schools with a specialism, (b) foundation schools with a specialism, (c) voluntary controlled schools with a specialism and (d) voluntary aided schools with a specialism in 200405;
	(2)  To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many secondary schools with a specialism are (a) community schools, (b) foundation schools, (c) voluntary controlled schools and (d) voluntary aided schools;
	(3)  how many secondary (a) foundation schools and (b) voluntary aided schools have sixth forms; and what proportion of pupils gained (i) five GCSEs grades A* to C and (ii) five GCSEs grades A* to C including English and mathematics in each category of school in the last year for which figures are available;
	(4)  how many specialist secondary schools (a) with and (b) without sixth forms are (i) community schools, (ii) voluntary aided schools, (iii) voluntary controlled schools and (iv) foundation schools; and what proportion of pupils gained (A) five GCSEs A*-C and (B) five GCSEs A*-C including English and mathematics in each category of specialist secondary school in the last year for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is outlined in the following table.
	
		2005 GCSE and equivalent results for 15-year-old pupils by school type, specialist status and sixth form status
		
			Percentage of 15-year-old pupils achieving: 
			 School type/specialist Sixth form Number of schools 5+ A*-C 5+ A*-C including English and maths 
		
		
			 Community 
			 Specialist with sixth form 652 56.9 44.6 
			  without sixth form 533 54.0 39.7 
			  Total 1,185 55.7 42.6 
			  
			 Non-specialist with sixth form 315 47.4 35.8 
			  without sixth form 488 42.1 29.7 
			  Total 803 44.4 32.4 
			  
			 Total with sixth form 967 54.1 42.0 
			  without sixth form 1,021 48.9 35.5 
			  Total 1,988 51.7 39.0 
			  
			 Voluntary aided 
			 Specialist with sixth form 216 70.4 57.9 
			  without sixth form 89 62.5 48.5 
			  Total 305 68.2 55.4 
			  
			 Non-specialist with sixth form 120 61.5 49.7 
			  without sixth form 107 50.4 37.5 
			  Total 227 57.3 45.1 
			  
			 Total with sixth form 336 67.4 55.1 
			  without sixth form 196 56.9 43.4 
			  Total 532 64.1 51.5 
			  
			 Voluntary controlled 
			 Specialist with sixth form 54 64.7 54.0 
			  without sixth form 8 57.8 49.2 
			  Total 62 64.0 53.5 
			  
			 Non-specialist with sixth form 22 65.7 58.2 
			  without sixth form 11 45.8 31.4 
			  Total 33 60.3 50.9 
			  
			 Total with sixth form 76 65.0 55.1 
			  without sixth form 19 51.6 40.0 
			  Total 95 62.9 52.8 
			  
			 Foundation 
			 Specialist with sixth form 305 66.0 54.5 
			  without sixth form 75 57.6 43.3 
			  Total 380 64.5 52.5 
			  
			 Non-specialist with sixth form 80 54.8 42.7 
			  without sixth form 42 47.7 37.7 
			  Total 122 52.6 41.2 
			  
			 Total with sixth form 385 63.8 52.2 
			  without sixth form 117 54.4 41.5 
			  Total 502 61.8 49.9

GNVQs

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many vacancies there were on GNVQ courses in (a) Leicester and (b) England in each year between 1997 and 2005.

Phil Hope: The figures requested are not collected centrally.

Grammar Schools

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many grammar schools have a specialism; and what proportion of pupils achieved five GCSEs A*-C including mathematics and English in grammar schools with a specialism in the last year for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested is outlined in the table.
	
		2005 GCSE and equivalent results for 15-yea- old pupils in grammar schools: results broken down by specialist status as at September 2004.
		
			   Percentage of 15-year-old pupils achieving: 
			 Specialist Number of schools 5+ A*-C 5+ A*-C including English and Maths 
		
		
			 Specialist 120 97.9 96.7 
			 Non-specialist 44 97.7 96.2 
			 Total 164 97.9 96.5

Head Teachers

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the introduction of the extended schools scheme on head teachers' work-life balance.

Jacqui Smith: By 2010 we expect all schools to be providing access to a core offer of extended services, including child care from 8 am to 6 pm; a varied menu of study support activities; parenting support; swift and easy referral to specialist services and wider community use of facilities. Head teachers, along with others, will want to ensure that these services are planned to support the overall vision of the school and contribute towards the School Improvement Plan. However, we do not expect teachers to provide or head teachers to directly manage all these new services.
	Schools working with their local authority may wish to nominate an extended schools co-ordinator to develop services, and may work in clusters with other schools and children's centres in their area. We are also encouraging schools to work in partnership with existing local private and voluntary sector providers.
	The National Remodelling Team will take a lead role in supporting schools through the development of extended services to ensure that it is consistent with the tenets of work force reform. Extended services can help remove barriers to learning and give support to pupils with their non-educational problems, helping school heads and teachers focus on their core job of teaching.
	We do recognise that the context of school leadership continues to evolve quickly, and so we have welcomed the School Teachers Review Body's timely recommendation for an independent study to report by December 2006 on the roles, responsibilities, structures and reward systems of the leadership group, looking at both current practice and likely future developments. We will announce shortly further details on the independent study.

Higher Education

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many 16 to 19-year-old parents have returned to higher education in Doncaster North constituency since 1997.

Bill Rammell: The information is not held centrally.

Infant Schools

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will take steps to amend the funding formula for infant schools to reduce fluctuations arising from unpredictable pupil numbers.

Jacqui Smith: With the introduction of new funding arrangements from April 2006, all local authorities will be required to use a single pupil count, based on pupil numbers in the January before the start of each financial year, to determine their schools' budget shares. The use of a single pupil count will make a significant contribution to improved certainty of funding for our schools.
	At the same time, fluctuations in pupil numbers may cause difficulty for some schools and so our school funding regulations allow authorities to vary school budget shares in the face of exceptional pupil turbulence. The new funding arrangements also recognise that primary and infant schools may operate an admission point for their reception pupils in the summer term that the use of a single pupil count would not recognise. Our school funding regulations therefore allow authorities to make an adjustment in the January pupil numbers used to determine a school's budget share, by taking account of the number of pupils admitted at the beginning of the previous summer term.

International Baccalaureate

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment her Department has made of the potential for use of the International Baccalaureate for post-16 education.

Jacqui Smith: We have always acknowledged the particular strengths of the International Baccalaureate (IB). But we are clear that the IB was not designed to be, and is not, a suitable model to meet the needs of all young people in this country.

Key Stage 2

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of primary school leavers had a reading age of 11 in each of the last five years.

Jacqui Smith: The requested information is not available. The Department does however; collect data on pupils' achievements in the end of Key Stage 2 National Curriculum tests. At the end of Key Stage 2 pupils are expected to reach Level 4 in English. Pupils are assessed in both reading and writing to arrive at their overall level in the English test.
	The National Curriculum tests measure the literacy skills that children are able to demonstrate at different levels of attainment. Children who reach Level 3 of the National Curriculum are assessed as having effective English skills and can demonstrate a good standard of reading. They are able to read a range of texts accurately and independently, tackle unfamiliar words and self correct when their reading doesn't make sense. Children achieving Level 4 have access to more complex forms of language and can access more complex ideas. They can use inference and deduction and can locate and use ideas and information.
	Achievement of the target Level 4 provides children with a solid foundation in learning from which to access the full secondary curriculum. Pupils who achieve level 4 or above at the end of primary school are six times more likely to achieve 5 A*- C grades at GCSE. This is why the Government has set a target for 85 per cent. of 11-year-olds to achieve Level 4 or above in English.
	The information provided in the table shows the proportion of pupils achieving Level 3 and Level 4 or above in the KS2 National Curriculum reading tests since 2001.
	
		
			  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005(7) 
		
		
			 Percentage of pupils achieving Level 4 or above in KS2 reading 82 80 81 83 84 
			 Percentage of pupils achieving Level 3 or above in KS2 reading 92 91 91 91 92 
		
	
	(7) 2005 figures are provisional. All other figures are final.

Learning and Skills Council

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the impact of industrial action on the re-structuring of the Learning and Skills Council; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The Learning and Skills Council has been having regular discussions with the trade unions at both national and local level. I am encouraged that these discussions have continued beyond the end of the formal consultation period. There is currently no industrial action as a result of LSC restructuring, and I very much hope that it can be avoided.

List 99

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of those who received a caution for having indecent pictures of children were placed on List 99 in the last year for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: The Department does not collect the information that you require in the format requested.

Literacy/Numeracy

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to introduce further measures to combat poor literacy and numeracy skills among adults.

Phil Hope: The Skills for Life Strategy, launched by the Prime Minister in 2001, is the first comprehensive strategy to tackle adult literacy, language and numeracy skills across England. Since 2001, 3.7 millions adults have taken up 7.8 million learning opportunities and 1,130,000 of these learners went on to achieve at least one Skills for Life qualification. The Government plans to help 2.25 million adults to achieve a literacy, language or numeracy qualification by 2010.
	Since the launch of the strategy, the Government have put in place the first national literacy, language and numeracy infrastructure, consisting of national standards, curriculum and qualifications. The next phase of the Skills for Life strategy will focus on raising the quality of teaching and learning, professionalizing the workforce, engaging adults who can benefit most from improving their skills, embedding literacy and numeracy learning in wider learning programmes (particularly vocational learning), and fostering progression to wider and higher levels of learning.

Literacy/Numeracy

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the progress of the review of the national literacy strategy.

Jacqui Smith: The Primary National Strategy has been asked to renew and update its framework for the teaching of literacy. It has been conducting a period of informal consultation, including discussions with consultancy groups drawn from national samples of head teachers, teachers, local authority representatives, subject and professional organisations and higher education institutions. A consultation forum has been set up on the DfES website.
	The Primary National Strategy has started work on writing a draft revised framework for more formal consultation, taking into account points arising from the informal consultation and the interim report of the Rose review of the teaching of early reading. This work will be completed by drawing on the findings that Jim Rose will set out in his forthcoming final report. The draft document will set out key learning objectives for the Foundation Stage and each year of Key Stages 1 and 2, giving a clear sense of the progression expected. It will also provide examples based on a particular year of the range of supporting material that the revised framework will marshal to ensure that teachers and practitioners have easy access to guidance and resources to help them plan and execute high-quality teaching. The draft revised framework will be published for consultation at Easter 2006.

Mathematics

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students chose to take (a) mathematics and (b) further mathematics A-level in each academic year between 1997 and 2006 in (i) Leicester and (ii) England.

Jacqui Smith: The following table shows GCE A level entries in Mathematics and Further Mathematics in Leicester Local Authority and in England
	
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Leicester  
			 Mathematics 280 323 332 294 292 237 207 246 298 
			 Further Mathematics 18 23 10 14 15 8 7 11 10 
			   
			 England  
			 Mathematics 43,167 43,646 43,155 41,635 41,934 33,546 33,850 35,057 35,486 
			 Further Mathematics 3,312 3,466 3,467 3,379 3,357 2,941 2,982 3,246 3,210 
		
	
	Note:
	The figures include students in maintained school sixth forms, Academies, City Technology Colleges, Sixth Form Colleges and general FE Sector Institutions. Independent schools are not included.

National Institute of Economic and Social Research

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much public funding the National Institute of Economic and Social Research received in each year since 199798 in (a) framework and (b) projected funding; and what the purpose was in each case.

Bill Rammell: To gather this information would accrue a disproportionate cost. What I can do is provide details of public funding awarded to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research as payment for carrying out research projects on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

New School Buildings

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment her Department has made of the suitability of former landfill sites for the development of new school buildings; and how many new schools have been built on such sites in each local education authority area in the North West of England.

Jacqui Smith: The Department has not carried out any studies on the suitability of using former landfill sites for the development of new school buildings, and nor does it have any data on how many schools have been built on such sites. Local planning authorities may well hold this information.

Ofsted

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the savings made in the last two financial years as a consequence of a lighter touch process for Ofsted inspections.

Jacqui Smith: The new lighter touch inspection of schools commenced in September 2005. Changes in the delivery of inspections will result in annual savings within Ofsted of 15 million.

School Food

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many primary schools in England have vending machines that offer chocolate.

Jacqui Smith: This information is not collected centrally.

School Funding (Data)

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if, in her review of the funding methodology for schools from 200607, she will make it her policy to ensure full comparability of data with earlier years.

Jacqui Smith: Following the changes to school and local authority funding for 200607 and 200708, the Department is working on figures for spending on school provision in earlier years that are comparable with the new funding system based around the Dedicated Schools Grant, on both a cash and per pupil basis, and will place them in the Library as soon as they are available. As we take forward the review of funding for schools, we will keep in mind the need to maintain comparability of data going forward to 200809 and beyond.

School Hours

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what her policy is on the time of day at which children start school;
	(2)  at what time of day secondary school children start school in each local education authority area;
	(3)  what research she has evaluated on the time of day at which school children in EU member states start school; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: The governing body of each maintained school determines the time at which schools start, and this is not uniform within individual local education authority areas. My Department does not collect information on start times in individual schools. I have not received any research on the time of day at which school children in EU member states start school.

School Music Facilities

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding her Department has made available for school music facilities in (a) Tamworth and (b) England in each academic year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: Capital allocations made to Staffordshire local authority and its schools are set out in the following table:
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 199798 7.4 
			 199899 28.4 
			 19992000 18.5 
			 200001 34.1 
			 200102 27.4 
			 200203 32.9 
			 200304 35.5 
			 200405 41.1 
			 200506 29.2 
		
	
	Capital allocations to local authorities and schools are higher than ever before. In 200506 they are 5.5 billion and they are planned to rise to 6.3 billion in 200708, an increase from 683 million in 199697.
	Capital allocations made to local authorities and schools in England since 199798 are set out in the table below:
	
		
			   billion 
		
		
			 9798 0.6 
			 9899 1.3 
			 9900 1.6 
			 0001 2.5 
			 0102 2.5 
			 0203 3.3 
			 0304 4.2 
			 0405 4.9 
			 0506 5.5 
		
	
	Allocations are made on a financial year basis, not the academic year. It is the responsibility of schools and local authorities to determine how they allocate these funds to different projects, including enhancing school music facilities, taking account of local needs and priorities.
	Records are not held centrally that show how much of this funding is spent on school music facilities, neither am I able to provide a breakdown for Tamworth.

School Selection

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what factors she took into account when deciding not to allow selection in schools by academic ability.

Jacqui Smith: Since 1998, it has been unlawful for schools to introduce new selection by high academic ability. It has long been our view that selection by academic ability is divisive.

School Selection

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what factors she took into account when deciding to allow selection in schools by (a) sporting and (b) physical ability.

Jacqui Smith: Schools with certain specialisms, including physical education or sport have, since 1999, been able to select up to 10 per cent. of their pupils based upon their aptitude for subjects prescribed by the Education (Aptitude for Particular Subjects) Regulations 1999.
	We allow this flexibility so that pupils with an aptitude in one of the prescribed subjects can gain access to schools with specialist teaching when they might not otherwise have been able to do so. Physical education and sport were prescribed because we considered that it was possible to assess aptitude in them as opposed to academic ability.
	It is for schools' admission authorities to determine whether they wish to adopt these arrangements.

School Selection

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list the criteria on which maintained secondary schools may select pupils.

Jacqui Smith: Maintained secondary schools may select 10 per cent. of their intake by ability in subjects prescribed by the Education (Aptitude for Particular Subjects) Regulations 1999. Any tests used must be to assess aptitude for the particular subject, and not ability or aptitude for another subject.
	Legislation prevents schools from introducing selection by academic ability as part of their admission arrangements, and only those schools that selected on this basis before 1998 may continue to do so.
	Grammar schools and schools which are allowed to continue to select part of their intake on the basis of high academic ability may allocate places to top scorers in their entrance test, or set a pass mark. Where there is a pass mark, if more children pass the test than there are places available, the school must apply other criteria to determine who to make offers to. These admission criteria must comply with legislation and be set with regard to guidance in the School Admissions Code of Practice, which requires them to be clear, fair, and objective.

Schools (Newcastle-upon-Tyne)

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of pupils of secondary schools in Newcastle-upon-Tyne achieved (a) English GCSE grades A to C, (b) mathematics GCSE grades A to C, (c) no GCSEs, (d) five GCSE grades A to C and (e) GNVQ four grades A to C equivalents in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested on the number of pupils achieving various qualifications in Newcastle-upon-Tyne local authority can be found it the table.
	
		GCSE achievements of 15-year-old pupils(8) in Newcastle-upon-Tyne local authority
		
			   % of pupils achieving 
			  Number of pupils English GCSE (A*-C) Mathematics GCSE (A*-C) No GCSE passes(9) 5 GCSE A*-C passes(10) 4 GNVQ grades A*-C(11) 
		
		
			 2005 2,621 46.4 39.2 7.5 36.4 25.4 
			 2004 2,784 44.3 38.4 8.5 36.3 15.5 
			 2003 2,917 43.2 36.7 10.1 35.4 6.9 
		
	
	(8) Age at the start of the academic year
	(9) Pupils achieving no passes at grades A*-G in GCSEs only
	(10) Pupils achieving at least five passes at grades A*-C in GCSEs only
	(11) Pupils achieving the equivalent of at least one full Intermediate GNVQ

Schools for the Hearing Impaired

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to her answer of 12 January 2006, Official Report, column 830W, on schools for the hearing impaired, how many of the special schools approved to make provision for pupils with hearing impairment are schools for the deaf; and how many schools for the deaf there were in each year since 1996.

Jacqui Smith: The available information is shown in the table. Numbers of schools that indicated they were approved to make provision for hearing impaired pupils, and no other category of need, are also shown in the table.
	
		Number of special schools approved to make provision for hearing impaired pupils only(12), 19962005Position in January each year
		
			 England Number of schools 
		
		
			 1996 20 
			 1997 19 
			 1998 19 
			 1999 20 
			 2000 21 
			 2001 18 
			 2002 19 
			 2003 18 
			 2004 17 
			 2005 16 
		
	
	(12) Includes maintained and non-maintained special schools

Special Needs

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidelines have been issued by her Department to local education authorities on the allocation of special needs funding.

Jacqui Smith: In May 2004 the Department published guidance to local authorities The Management of SEN Expenditure, which can be viewed online at www.teachernet.gov.uk/senexpenditure. It includes information and recommendations on delegating SEN resources to mainstream schools and also on the monitoring and accountability arrangements that local authorities should put in place to ensure that pupils' needs are being met.

Special Needs

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the role of the Index of Multiple Deprivation in the establishment of guidelines for the allocation of special needs funding.

Jacqui Smith: Our funding guidance The Management of SEN Expenditure, published in 2004, included advice to local authorities on developing a funding formula to support most pupils with additional and special educational needs. The guidance included information on the most commonly used indicators and the Index of Multiple Deprivation was suggested as an indicator of deprivation. Other commonly used indicators include prior attainment based upon end of key stage test data; a social need factor such as free school meals; a turbulence factor based on unplanned admissions and leavers; and the number of children for whom English is a second language.

State Education (Procurement Budget)

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total procurement budget for the state education sector has been for the last three financial years; and what the project budgeted is for the next three financial years.

Jacqui Smith: The Department for Education and Skills does not have a specific budget for procurement that it allocates to the state education sector. The Government believes that educational institutions should be responsible for managing their funding according to their individual priorities and to make their own expenditure decisions.
	Data on non-pay expenditure is available for 200304 which amounts to approximately 13 billion. This will include expenditure on procurement as well as running costs and capital expenditure. It is not possible to break down the non-pay expenditure further.

Student Mobility

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to support UK student mobility within the European Union in the years 2007 to 2013.

Bill Rammell: The Government will continue to encourage UK higher education students to take part in Erasmus, the European Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students. We will work with the national agency responsible for Erasmus to promote the benefits of student mobility.

Sure Start

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children living in disadvantaged areas of Doncaster North constituency participated in Sure Start local programmes in the last period for which figures are available.

Beverley Hughes: There are six Sure Start local programmes in Doncaster reaching a total of 3,898 children under the age of four. Three of the Sure Start local programmes are based within Doncaster North reaching a total of 2,192 children: Sure Start Moorends and the Willows covers 429 children; Sure Start Bentley, Central and Adwick serves 951 children and Sure Start Spa Spiders which covers 812 children.

Teacher Training

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the Training and Development Agency category rating is of each school-centred initial teacher training schemes in the single secondary subject of physical education.

Jacqui Smith: The following table shows the quality grading of school-centred initial teacher training (SCITT) providers which offer physical education (PE) as an initial teacher training (ITT) route.
	
		
			 Provider Quality category 
		
		
			 Chiltern Training Group C 
			 Colchester SCITT C 
			 Marches Consortium SCITT C 
			 North East Partnership B 
			 Suffolk and Norfolk Secondary SCITT C 
			 Titan Partnership C 
			 West Midlands Consortium B 
		
	
	Note:
	The quality scale comprises five categories:
	AVery good;
	BGood;
	CSatisfactory;
	DUnsatisfactory; and Non-compliant.
	In academic year 2006/07 there will be seven SCITT providers offering PE. These providers will offer about 5 per cent. of the available places.

Teacher Training

Nick Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what criteria are used by the Training and Development Agency in allocation rounds for school-centred initial teacher training schemes.

Jacqui Smith: The criteria used by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) when making allocations of initial teacher training (ITT) places are the same for higher education institutions (HEI) and school-centred initial teacher training institutions. The overwhelming influence on allocations decisions is the quality of ITT offered by the provider, determined through independent inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).
	These criteria are set out annually for all providers in an 'invitation to bid' issued by the TDA each July and are further described in their allocations manual. Both the letter and the manual are publicly available on the TDA website: http://www.tda.gov.uk/partners/funding/fundingallocations/allocations.aspx
	The criteria for 2006/07 and 2007/08 allocations are listed as follows:
	Quality of provision. The TDA give priority to bids from providers with high Ofsted quality gradings;
	Track record in recruiting from under-represented groups in primary. Priority is given to bids from providers with good track records in recruiting primary trainees from minority ethnic groups and/or men (greater than 1.5 times the national average);
	Denomination. Priority is given to bids from denominational over non-denominational providers if analysis shows the balance needs to be adjusted;
	Viable cohort size. Priority is given to bids from providers with small cohorts that need additional or recycled places to make those cohorts of an economic size;
	Regional need. Priority is given to bids from providers in regions or sub-regions where vacancies are particularly high (Greater London, the West Midlands, the South East and the Eastern Area Government Office regions);
	Training, standards or management and quality assurance. Priority is given to providers receiving a grade 1 for their training, standards or management and quality assurance cells when inspected by Ofsted; and
	Qualified teacher status (QTS. Priority is given to providers with a strong track record in converting completers with QTS into newly qualified teachers in maintained schools as evidenced by their performance profiles data (providers with completion rates greater than average plus 10 per cent.).

Teachers

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the effects on costs of introducing a new pay structure for the upper pay spine for teachers.

Jacqui Smith: As a result of the January 2004 Pay Agreement the potential annual spend of 700 million on upper pay spine costs is reduced to a more manageable 400 million per annum in the steady state. We now have a clear framework for rewarding our best and most experienced teachers and the first Excellent Teacher Scheme appointments will be made in September.

Teachers

David Gauke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate she has made of the amount of time spent on administrative tasks by teachers; and what steps she has taken to reduce (a) the number of and (b) the time spent on such tasks.

Jacqui Smith: The independent study into teacher workload conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2001 identified that two-thirds of a teacher's time was spent on activities other than teaching. Following proposals made by the School Teachers' Review Body and extensive consultation, the National Agreement on Raising Standards and Tackling Workload was signed in January 2003 by Government, employers and the majority of school workforce unions. The agreement contained a series of phased changes to teachers' contracts including, from September 2003, that teachers would no longer be routinely required to perform administrative or clerical tasks.
	In order to assess the amount of time spent on such tasks by teachers, the Department uses the Office for Manpower Economics (OME) Teachers' Workload Diary Survey. This survey provides independently collected data on the hours and working patterns of some 2,000 randomly selected teachers in schools in the maintained sector. The survey asks teachers to record the type and duration of activities undertaken in one week in March. Surveys have been carried out in 1994, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005. Estimates from the survey data of the average amount of time spent by teachers in schools each week on various categories of activity, including administrative and clerical tasks, are shown below for each year the survey has been run:
	
		
			  Admin and clerical tasks 
			  Primary Secondary 
		
		
			 1994 6.8 4.5 
			 1996 7.8 4.4 
			 2000 7.0 4.6 
			 2003 6.9 4.4 
			 2004 7.1 4.1 
			 2005 5.9 3.8

Undergraduates

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many undergraduates the Government expects to study in the 2006/07 academic year; and if she will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: The number of full-time and part-time UK domiciled undergraduates studying at English Higher Education institutions and Further Education colleges in the 2006/07 academic year is projected to be 1,400,000 1 . This represents a planned increase of nearly 20,000 (1.5 per cent.) on the projected figure for 2005/06. Projections of HE student numbers are issued each year in the Department's Annual Report and a revised projection will be available on publication of the 2006 report.
	1 Figure is on a headcount DfES whole year count basis and is rounded to the nearest 10,000.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Community Renewables Initiative

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what consultations his Department has undertaken on the Community Renewables Initiative.

Malcolm Wicks: The DTI along with other partner organisations commissioned a report into the need for the type of advice service provided by the CRI. This report was circulated to members of the CRI and is now being used to inform ongoing discussions into the future of the CRI.

Community Renewables Initiative

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether the Community Renewables Initiative will receive financial support after 31 March.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 13 February 2006
	Discussions are still ongoing between DTI and other Government Departments and it s not possible to give an answer at this time. We recognise the difficulty this uncertainty is causing but we hope to make a decision shortly.

Company Directors (Personal Liability)

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will seek to introduce legislation under which company directors would be held personally liable for publishing dishonest financial statements.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Clause 387 of the Company Law Reform Bill re-enacts the provisions in section 233 of the Companies Act 1985 which provide for the criminal liability of directors for annual accounts that do not comply with the requirements of the Act and, where applicable, of Article 4 of EC Regulation No 1606/2002 on the application of international accounting standards.
	Clause 434 of the Bill re-enacts the provisions of section 245B of the 1985 Act which enable the court, if it finds that accounts do not comply with the Act's requirements (or, where applicable, Article 4's requirements) to order that any reasonable expenses incurred by the company in connection with the preparation of revised accounts be borne by the directors who were party to the approval of the defective accounts.

Company Law

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will seek to introduce legislation under which companies would be required to publish their tax computation.

Alun Michael: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans to require companies to publish their tax computations. Tax computations are a matter for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs.
	There are many disclosure requirements under the Companies Act 1985 (which will be re-enacted in regulations to be made under the Company Law Reform Bill) and under accounting standards relating to tax that are required to be included in the accounts. As brief examples of the disclosure requirements, (by no means exhaustive), companies are required to report the following under UK GAAP:
	Amount of tax split between UK and foreign tax
	Any special circumstances that affect the overall tax charge or credit for the period, or that may affect those of future periods, should be disclosed by way of note to the profit and loss account and their individual effects quantified
	Deferred tax disclosures, including a reconciliation of the current tax charge or credit on ordinary activities for the period reported in the profit and loss account to the current tax charge that would result from applying a relevant standard rate of tax to the profit on ordinary activities before tax.
	Companies reporting under International Accounting Standards need to include (among other things):
	Major component of tax expense/credit
	An explanation of the relationship between tax expense (income) and accounting profit

Consultancy Services

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much his Department spent on outside consultancy services in each year since 2001.

Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 December 2005, Official Report, column 1005W, to the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Martin Horwood)

Departmental Consultants

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what external consultants and advisers have been engaged by his Department on the proposals to consolidate the number of consumer bodies; and how much in fees has been paid to these external consultants and advisers for this exercise.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department of Trade and Industry has appointed KPMG LLP to undertake analysis on the proposals to strengthen and streamline consumer advocacy. The project fee is currently commercially sensitive information and the Department is unable to release this figure.

Parliamentary Questions

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many ordinary written parliamentary questions tabled for answer by him in the last 12 months have been answered (a) within 14 days, (b) between 14 and 28 days, (c) between 28 days and two months and (d) in excess of two months after the date of tabling; and if he will make a statement.

Alan Johnson: Departments aim to ensure that Members receive a substantive response to their Named Day question on the named day and endeavour to answer Ordinary Written questions within a working week of being tabled. Unfortunately, this is not always possible but this Department makes every effort to achieve these time scales.
	
		
			 Month Total Within 14 days 1428 days 28 days-2 months Excess of 2 months 
		
		
			 February 2005 169 93 45 30 1 
			 March 2005 231 177 54 0 0 
			 April 2005 7 7 0 0 0 
			 May 2005 85 83 1 0 1 
			 June 2005 278 270 6 0 2 
			 July 2005 322 317 5 0 0 
			 October 2005 287 263 23 1 0 
			 November 2005 496 474 21 1 0 
			 December 2005 242 227 14 1 0 
			 January 2006 341 334 7 0 0 
			 Total 2,458 2,245 176 33 4

Post Office Card Account

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the likely cost to the Post Office will be of ending the Post Office card account in 2010.

Barry Gardiner: The cost to the Post Office will depend on what accounts might be introduced as an alternative to the Post Office card account beyond 2010. Post Office Ltd. are currently discussing the options with the DWP.

Post Offices

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what representations he has received from Royal Mail on the minimum number of post office branches required to fulfil the terms of its universal service obligations.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 13 February 2006
	None. This is a matter for the Postal Services Regulator, Postcomm.

Post Offices

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of franchisees of main posts office terminated their contracts before the agreed end date in each of the last five years; and on how many occasions action has been taken to enforce a contract until a suitable alternative location is in place.

Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). The Chief Executive has been asked to reply direct to my hon. Friend.

Post Offices

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what powers the Post Office has to prevent franchisees of main post offices terminating their contract before the agreed end date.

Barry Gardiner: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). The chief executive has been asked to reply direct to the hon. Member.

Postal Services

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the effect on UK businesses of the price differential between parcels posted in the UK sent to another EU country and parcels posted in another EU country sent to the UK.

Barry Gardiner: holding answer 14 February 2006
	None. The pricing of parcel services for parcels weighing less than 1 kg that falls within the Universal Service Obligation is a matter for Postcomm, the industry regulator. The wider parcel services market is unregulated and thus fully open to price competition.

Sunday Trading

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many meetings officials from his Department have had with representatives of (a) trade unions, (b) retail organisations and (c) other groups on Sunday trading since September 2004.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Officials from the Department of Trade and Industry have had seven meetings specifically on Sunday trading with external parties, including a trade union, large and small retailers and other groups. All these meetings have taken place since the Secretary of State's announcement on 14 November 2005 that Sunday trading regulation would be reviewed.
	The DTI maintains regular contact with the retail industry and interested parties, for example through the Retail Policy Forum, which meets quarterly.

Tidal Power

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the potential of tidal power as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Malcolm Wicks: Tidal power can broadly be split into two categories: tidal-currentthis extracts kinetic energy from fast moving tidal currents and tidal impoundment that generates in a similar way to a conventional dam.
	The UK Tidal Energy Programme 1 that ran between 197894 at a cost of 20 million estimated the total tidal (impoundment) resource to be approximately 50 TWh/y. The largest and most economically viable scheme, the Severn Barrage could contribute 17TWh/y or 5 per cent. of UK demand.
	The most recent study undertaken in 2004 2 estimated the tidal-current resource at approximately 16 TWh/y (4 per cent. of current UK supply).
	1 Energy Paper 57 HMSO 1989 (ISBN 0 11 412952 5)
	2 Binnie, Black and Veatch 2005 Phase II Report UK, Europe and Global Tidal Stream Resource Assessment.

Zirconium Silicate (Iran)

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2006, Official Report, column 1379W, on zirconium silicate (Iran), who (a) the exporter was of the zirconium silicate intercepted in Bulgaria and (b) the end-user of the material; what the expected end-use of the material was; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 14 February 2006
	Information on the exporter, end-user and expected end-use of the export in question is commercially confidential and as such is exempt from disclosure.

Zirconium Silicate (Iran)

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 9 February 2006, Official Report, column 1379W, on zirconium silicate (Iran), what definition he uses of (a) end-user and (b) expected end-use; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 14 February 2006
	While there is no written definition of end-user or end-use information, the end-user is the entity for which the goods are ultimately destined, and the end-use is the use to which the goods will be put. Applicants are required to declare that the contents of their application and the supporting documentation are, to the best of their knowledge, accurate. End-use and end-user information provided in support of a Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) application, where required, must be verified by documentation provided by the end-user.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Departmental Expenditure

John Spellar: To ask the Solicitor-General how much the Law Officers Department spent on bottled water in 200405.

Mike O'Brien: 200405 the Crown Prosecution Service, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and the Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers spent 75,600 on the provision by contract of bottled water, cups, machine rental, sanitisation and maintenance. It has not been possible to isolate the expenditure on bottled water alone.
	The aforementioned figures do not include bottles of water available at meetings. No separate details are available for this expenditure and it would incur disproportionate cost to extract it.
	The Serious Fraud Office, Treasury Solicitor's Department and parts of the Crown Prosecution Service do not purchase bottled water but provide staff with chilled, filtered water.
	The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office was set up on 18 April 2005 so does not fall within the timeframe of this question.

Government Papers

David Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General how many copies of Cm 6531 were produced; how many were supplied free-of-charge; to whom; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: Cm 6531 is the Law Officers' Departments Departmental Report 2005. It set out the Attorney-General's Strategy for his Departments and reported on delivery in each Department, including objectives and expenditure plans.
	The Stationery Office produced 765 copies of Cm 6531 of which 270 were provided to the Law Officers' Departments.
	The Crown Prosecution Service received 170 copies which were distributed within CPS headquarters, throughout the CPS 42 geographical areas in England and Wales and to partners in the criminal justice system.
	75 copies were shared between the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, Serious Fraud Office, Treasury Solicitor's Department and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate where they were distributed for use internally.
	The Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers received 25 copies, 11 of which were laid before Parliament or in the House Libraries. The remainder were distributed for use internally.

Jo Martinson

David Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2006, Official Report, column 1963W, on Jo Martinson, what account was taken of the fact that the charges of (a) driving a vehicle without insurance, (b) driving without a licence and (c) not informing the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency of the existence of a material disability, were not instituted against the driver of the vehicle that caused the death of Jo Martinson.

Mike O'Brien: Offences of driving a vehicle without insurance, driving without a licence and driving a vehicle with a defective condition are instituted by the police. It is for the police to refer possible offences of failing to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of a material disability or not having a tax disc to the DVLA for its consideration.
	No such offences in relation to the driver of the vehicle in question were referred to the CPS for consideration or prosecution in relation to the case involving the tragic death of Jo Martinson.

Jo Martinson

David Amess: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2006, Official Report, column 1963W, on Jo Martinson, what inquiries he made into the evidence submitted by Essex police to the Crown Prosecution Service that the vehicle that caused the death of Jo Martinson did not have a tax disc.

Mike O'Brien: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is not responsible for the prosecution of cases involving defendants who do not have a vehicle excise licence. Where it is apparent that a valid vehicle excise licence is not in existence, the police will pass details of this to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency for its consideration.
	I am informed that in the case involving the tragic death of Jo Martinson no evidence was submitted to the CPS regarding the vehicle in question not having a valid vehicle excise licence.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Grass-roots Sports Funding

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much each sports national governing body (NGB) has received from the community club development programme in each of the last three years; and how much NGBs have allocated to grass-roots sports development under the terms of the compact with her Department on income from broadcasting in each year.

Richard Caborn: Sixteen National Governing Bodies for Sport and the community sports clubs affiliated to them have received awards from the Community Club Development Fund in the period 2003 to date as follows:
	
		
		
			 NGB Year 1 (200304) Year 2 (200405) Year 3 (to date) (200506) 
		
		
			 All England Netball Association 436,500 222,665 781,547 
			 Amateur Rowing Association 1,657,056 199,445 436,510 
			 Amateur Swimming Association 0 6,720 763,502 
			 Badminton England 134,227 666,644 448,389 
			 British Canoe Union 519,500 635,431 645,985 
			 British Cycling 588,136 216,389 598,630 
			 British Gymnastics Association 60,076 690,000 645,110 
			 British Judo Association 45,625 329,694 1,236,712 
			 England Basketball 205,809 110,000 597,442 
			 English Cricket Board 2,996,330 1,592,513 2,233,388 
			 England Hockey 185,000 248,800 623,308 
			 English Table Tennis Association 14,777 31,485 1,446,738 
			 Football Association 6,706,197 2,236,017 678,816 
			 Lawn Tennis Association 4,413,234 2,394,918 1,610,800 
			 Rugby Football League 38,188 260,591 994,598 
			 Rugby Football Union 7,442,027 1,772,009 1,141,316 
		
	
	The Voluntary Code relating to broadcasting rights and grass roots sport was established and is administered by Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR), which is independent of my Department. Signatories have undertaken to invest at least 5 per cent. of broadcasting income in the development of their sports in order to ensure that the next generation of competitors has the support and facilities necessary to succeed at the highest level. Comprehensive information on allocations under the Code is not held by the Department.

National Lottery

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average annual (a) number and (b) value of National Lottery grants awarded to recipients was in (i) Denton and Reddish and (ii) all UK parliamentary constituencies between establishment of the Lottery and 2000 and (A) 2001 and (B) 2005.

Richard Caborn: Up until the end of 2000, the average number of Lottery awards per constituency per year was 25, with an average value of 115,000.
	In the same time period in Denton and Reddish, the average number of grants per year was 9, with an average value of 13,000.
	Between 2001 and 2005, the average number of Lottery awards per constituency per year was 57, with an average value of 50,000.
	In the same time period in Denton and Reddish, the average number of grants per year was 24, with an average value of 44,000.
	The monetary amounts given are rounded to the nearest 1,000. The information is derived from the Department's Lottery award database. This is searchable at www.lottery.culture.gov.uk, and uses information supplied by the Lottery distributors.

Olympic Games

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if she will publish an organisation chart of staff in her Department working on the 2012 Olympics;
	(2)  if she will list the key civil servants in her Department involved in the delivery of the 2012 Olympics; what the responsibilities of each are; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  how many civil servants in her Department (a) were part of the bid team for the 2012 Olympics, (b) are working on the 2012 Olympics and (c) she expects to work on overseeing preparations for the 2012 Olympics over the next six years.

Tessa Jowell: holding answer 13 February 2006
	Approximately 12 staff in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) worked on London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. Approximately 30 staff in DCMS are currently working on the preparations for the 2012 Games. I anticipate that the core team will number approximately 40 staff over the coming years. In addition, staff across the Department as a whole contribute to the delivery of the Olympic Games. As the team working on preparations for the 2012 Games within DCMS is still in transition, an organisation chart is not yet available.

Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent by (a) her Department, (b) its non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies and (c) National Lottery distributors on the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain; and if she will make a statement.

David Lammy: To date, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain has cost 5,247,366. The Department has funded 3,862,800 and The Royal Parks Agency has contributed 1,384,566. The Memorial Fountain has not received any funding from National Lottery distributors.

SCOTLAND

Departmental Energy Costs

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent by his Department on (a) gas and (b) electricity in 200405.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office spent 23,372 on electricity and 96,362 on gas in 200405.

Departmental Entertainment

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent on entertainment by his Department in 200405, broken down by (a) food, (b) alcohol, (c) staff and (d) accommodation.

David Cairns: The information is not hell in the form requested; however, in 200405, the Scotland Office spent 18,420 on hospitality.

Departmental Information

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent on the Department's public relations and information services in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office has incurred no expenditure on external public relations.
	The running costs of the Office's Press Office since 200001 are as follows;
	
		
			   
		
		
			 200001 178,236 
			 200102 157,826 
			 200203 162,021 
			 200304 136,932 
			 200405 131,149

Departmental Staff

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many disciplinary actions against civil servants employed in his Department (a) were commenced and (b) resulted in a sanction being applied in each of the last five years.

David Cairns: There have been a small number of disciplinary actions against civil servants loaned to the Scotland Office; to protect the privacy of individual staff, data relating to fewer than five people is not disclosed.

Departmental Staff

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many staff in his Department are paid on a performance-related basis.

David Cairns: All.

Energy Provision

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the Scottish Executive regarding the provision of energy for people in the winter months.

David Cairns: My right hon. Friend and I meet regularly with Scottish Executive Ministers to discuss a range of issues. Government effort is focused on improving supply and working with energy companies and others to mitigate the impact of price rises on vulnerable consumers. Addressing the problem of fuel poverty through installation of central heating is a devolved responsibility in Scotland.

Fair Trade

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what his Department's policy is on the procurement of fair trade produce for consumption on its premises.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office has taken opportunities to use fair trade products but has very limited requirements for goods which are subject to fair trade schemes. In accordance with Government procurement policy we seek best value for money, in the interests of the taxpayer.

Fair Trade

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much and what proportion of his Department's catering budget was spent on fair trade produce in the last period for which figures are available.

David Cairns: The Scotland Office is unable to provide the information requested as expenditure on fair trade produce cannot be readily identified separately from the total catering expenditure.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his assessment is of the security situation in (a) Nimrooz, (b) Farah, (c) Ghor, (d) Oruzgan and (e) Kandahar provinces.

Adam Ingram: Nimruz, Farah and Ghowr have remained stable throughout the period in which ISAF have been in Afghanistan. The security situation in Kandahar and Oruzgan provinces is less permissive than in the north and west of the country. Coalition partners and Afghan forces constantly review the security situation to determine the appropriate size and composition of their forces in order to operate effectively in these areas.

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) British and (b) Allied troops are deployed in (i) Nimrooz, (ii) Farah, (iii) Ghor, (iv) Oruzgan and (v) Kandahar provinces; and what such troops are due to be deployed in each province in the next (A) six and (B) 12 months.

Adam Ingram: As announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 26 January 2006, the UK plans to deploy some 3,300 troops to Southern Afghanistan (Helmand and Kandahar provinces). We currently have around 500 UK troops in Southern Afghanistan. The detail and timing of the deployments of other nations is not for us to comment on.

Afghanistan

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training British troops in Helmand province received prior to deployment.

Adam Ingram: All troops deploying to operational theatres, including Afghanistan, receive a pre-deployment training package which is tailored to the theatre into which they are deploying.

Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessments (a) have been and (b) are planned to be made of the practicability of operating Typhoons from the Future Aircraft Carriers.

Adam Ingram: In reaching the Joint Combat Aircraft selection decision, we assessed a number of options including Typhoon. Our judgment was, and remains, that the Joint Strike Fighter best meets United Kingdom requirements.

Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his latest estimate is of the cost of designing the Future Aircraft Carrier; and what price France is paying for purchasing that design.

Adam Ingram: The total cost of the assessment phase is approximately 300 million and, as we announced on 14 December, we have now committed to the demonstration phase, amounting to some 300 million of further work. This includes elements for long-lead items and risk reduction, as well as developing the design to a point at which a decision to manufacture can be taken.
	We subsequently announced, on 24 January, that we will be co-operating with France to produce a common baseline design that both countries can further use to develop their own carriers. France will make a financial contribution in recognition of the investment UK has already made in the design (comprising 30 million now and 25 million in July with a further 45 million at the end of the demonstration phase if France decides to commit to manufacture) and will contribute one third of the demonstration phase costs of the common baseline design.

BBC Monitoring

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funding BBC Monitoring has received from (a) his Department, (b) other Government Departments and (c) other sources in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	BBC Monitoring has received the following funding in each of the last five years:
	
		000
		
			  Financial year 
			 Source 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 FCO 7,596 6,602 6,813 7,072 7,072 
			 MOD 7,249 6,506 6,720 6,982 6,982 
			 BBC World Service 4,201 4,961 5,105 5,280 5,278 
			 Cabinet Office 454 2,546 2,623 2,719 2,719 
			 Other sources 2,265 3,657 3,486 3,632 3,293 
			 Total 21,765 24,272 24,747 25,685 25,345 
		
	
	In 2005, BBC Monitoring Stakeholders agreed a funding regime up to financial year201011 that provides BBC Monitoring with security and stability for the future.

BBC Monitoring

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what funding BBC Monitoring will receive in (a) 200506 and (b) 200607 from (i) his Department, (ii) other Government departments and (iii) other sources.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	BBC Monitoring funding in 200506 and 200607 is listed in the table. From 200607 onwards, all funding will be channelled through the Cabinet Office and held in a ring-fenced budget. Other sources includes commercial sales which are variable and therefore must be regarded as approximate. In the financial year 200506 BBC Monitoring will, in addition, draw down 1 million from the BBC Monitoring Reserve Fund.
	
		000
		
			  Financial year 
			 Source 200506 200607 
		
		
			 FCO 5,072  
			 MOD 6,982  
			 BBC World Service 5,278  
			 Cabinet Office 3,719 24,600 
			 Other sources 3,192 3,338 
			 Total 24,244 27,938

BBC Monitoring

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the countries from which media output is monitored by BBC Monitoring.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	In association with its US partner, BBC Monitoring is required to maintain a global capability. The level of coverage differs from country to country. Priorities and coverage is amended to monitor specific events such as elections.

Departmental Catering Budget

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much and what proportion of his Department's catering budget was spent on fair trade produce in the last period for which figures are available.

Adam Ingram: Fair Trade items have only recently been selected for inclusion in the Core Range food catalogue available to Service Caterers. Information on expenditure on these items is not yet available.

Departmental Catering Budget

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his Department's policy is on the procurement of fair trade produce for consumption on its premises.

Adam Ingram: To meet the Ministry of Defence's value for money requirements, all catering contractors are required to seek the best price in the open market, consistent with meeting the MOD's quality standard; indeed to do otherwise would contravene European law. In the case of fair trade products, the Department's policy requires contractors to give full consideration to such goods whenever they meet these criteria.

Frimley Park Hospital

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the possible release of departmental land next to Frimley Park hospital for hospital use.

Don Touhig: The Ministry of Defence property adjacent to Frimley Park hospital is Cadet Training Centre Frimley Park. It is the focus of the UK cadet movement and a valued and fully-utilised facility.
	No plans exist at present to vacate or dispose of any part of the site. If such plans are formed in future, due consideration will be given to Frimley Park hospital's past expressions of interest.

Gulf War-related Illnesses

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what fuels used by UK forces on Operation (a) Granby and (b) Telic contained pyridines.

Adam Ingram: Testing for pyridine in fuel is not standard Ministry of Defence or industry practice. However, fuels used by the UK armed forces during Operation Granby and Operation Telic were and are commercial fuels and are likely therefore to contain minute traces of pyridine, either through being an inherent component of the crude oil stock, or possibly as a contaminant picked up by the fuel from the distribution system.

Helicopters

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of helicopter lift capability in the armed forces.

Adam Ingram: Last year the Ministry of Defence conducted an analysis of our Battlefield helicopter requirement, which drew on military judgement and recent operational experience. This concluded that there are shortfalls in certain specific lift capabilities. In the short term, we are addressing these by looking at ways of delivering the maximum capability from our existing fleets, including by ensuring greater availability and utilisation through streamlined logistic support. In the longer term, the future rotorcraft capability programme is looking at building our helicopter fleets for the future.

Joint Combat Aircraft

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will continue with the proposed purchase of the Joint Combat Aircraft (JCA) without an agreement by the US to share the technological data required for future upgrading of the JCA.

Adam Ingram: We continue to work closely with the United States Government at all levels to ensure that our needs for JSF technical information required to support our Sovereign capabilities are met. This is a key area in our negotiations on the Production, Sustainment and Follow on Development Memorandum Of Understanding.

Marine Life (Sonar)

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the possible effects on marine life of Sonar 2087.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence has conducted environmental impact assessments of marine habitats in which Sonar 2087 might operate. These assessments indicated that while Sonar 2087 has the potential to impact on the marine environment, a range of rigorous mitigation measures have been developed to minimise this and these are integral to our operating procedures. There have been no recorded incidents of harm being caused to marine life by Sonar 2087. We continue to support a sustained programme of research into the effects of active sonar.
	Copies of the environmental analysis reports relating to the Sonar 2087 sea trials conducted in 2002 and 2004 have been released to interested parties and are available in the Library of the House.

Met Office

John Leech: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the likely net change in jobs in Manchester arising from the restructuring of the Meteorological Office Civil Centre Forecast Production Network.

Don Touhig: As a result of my recent decision to move forecast production from Birmingham, London, Belfast, Cardiff and Manchester to the Met Office Operations Centre in Exeter, the number of Met Office jobs at the Met Office's Manchester civil centre will be reduced from 31 to eight. The eight jobs remaining in Manchester will be customer account managers and forecast advisers.

Mine Countermeasures

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what provisions are being made in the Future Mine Countermeasures Vision for the use of (a) remote sweep systems and (b) unmanned surface vessels.

Adam Ingram: The Future UK Mine Countermeasures Strategy is in the early stages of development. It is too early to say what part remote sweep systems and unmanned surface vessels might play in the delivery of future capability.

Missile Defence

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on UK involvement in ballistic missile defence programmes; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: The Government have not yet decided whether or not to pursue missile defence for the United Kingdom, but we continue to examine, with our NATO allies, the developing threat from ballistic missiles and the appropriate responses. We have agreed to the upgrading of the radar at RAF Fylingdales as part of the United States missile defence system, and we also have a programme of joint technical and research projects with the US exploring the relevant technologies.

Pingat Jasa Malaysia

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written statement of 31 January 2006, Official Report, columns 1011WS, on the Pingat Jasa Malaysia, what steps veterans who wish to apply for such medals should take.

Ian Pearson: I have been asked to reply.
	Information on how veterans can apply for the Pingat Jasa Malaysia can be found in the section entitled 'Medals' on the Ministry of Defence Veterans' Agency website at http://www.veteransagency.mod.uk. Members of veterans' or regimental associations should approach their own organisations which will co-ordinate their applications and arrange for them to be channelled to the Malaysian High Commission in London. Veterans who do not belong to an association can approach the National Malaya and Borneo Veterans' Association (NMBVA), which has agreed to co-ordinate applications for non-members as well as its own members. Full details of the NMBVA are included on the website.

Portland Port

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for the future use of Portland port by the Royal Navy.

Adam Ingram: We intend to continue using berths in Portland port for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and occasionally for Royal Navy surface warships.
	We will also pursue plans to develop the capability within Portland port to host occasional visits by RN nuclear powered submarines.

QinetiQ

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether there are provisions in the contract signed with QinetiQ for the management of his Department's practice ranges to cancel the arrangement early; and what penalties would be incurred.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 14 February 2006
	As is common with contracts of this nature, the Ministry of Defence's Long Term Partnering Agreement with QinetiQ includes clauses that provide for early termination of the arrangement. The compensation payable would depend upon the circumstances of the cessation.

QinetiQ

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the agreement governing the Government's payments to QinetiQ pension fund prior to the initial public offering; and if he will make a statement.

John Reid: holding answer 14 February 2006
	The agreement between Ministry of Defence and QinetiQ governing the Government's payments to the company's pension fund is part of a commercially confidential agreement between MOD and the company and I am therefore unable to release it. However, a detailed summary of the key aspects of the pensions agreement appears on pages 83 and 286 of the QinetiQ prospectus, a copy of which was placed in the Library of the House on 26 January.

QinetiQ

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the QinetiQ shareholdings, broken down by (a) size and (b) type, of QinetiQ managers, from board level to business group managers, broken down by (i) name and (ii) position.

John Reid: The shareholding interests of the senior executives in QinetiQ are set out in the QinetiQ IPO prospectus, a copy of which was placed in the Library of the House on 26 January. The prospectus also has details of the award of free shares worth 500 to each QinetiQ employee and the Employee Priority Offer, which formed part of the IPO on 10 February, and of the company's plans for employee share schemes after the IPO. Any further details are a matter for the company and should be addressed to the Chief Executive at the following address:
	Graham Love
	Chief Executive
	QinetiQ Ltd.
	Cody Technology Park
	Building A1
	Ively Road
	Farnborough
	Hampshire GU140LX

QinetiQ

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what loans, grants and financial guarantees have been made by his Department to QinetiQ in the last five years.

John Reid: Over the last five years, the Department has made a number of different loan arrangements with QinetiQ, all of which have since been repaid in full:
	(i) At the time of vesting in July 2001 QinetiQ paid MOD for its assets through a combination of equity and 150 million of cash in the form of an interest-bearing loan note.
	(ii) Also at vesting, QinetiQ undertook to pay for alternative accommodation for Chertsey-based staff based at the MOD-owned Defence Scientific and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), to allow this site to be closed. This obligation took the form of a loan note for 30 million from QinetiQ to Dstl.
	(iii) At vesting MOD put in place a working capital facility of up to 120 million for QinetiQ, for which it was charged a market rate of interest. This was necessary since QinetiQ as a wholly-Government owned company was not allowed to access facilities outside Government. This was subsequently replaced by commercial facilities at a lower rate of interest in February 2002.
	MOD also has certain obligations in the form of contingent liabilities which have been presented to Parliament in departmental minutes dated 4 December 2001, 8 July and 17 December 2002.

RAF Menwith Hill

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the purpose is of the two further radomes planned for RAF Menwith Hill.

Adam Ingram: The proposed new radomes at RAF Menwith Hill will house additional antennae that will be used in support of the current mission of the base.

RAF Stafford (Museum)

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to put on open display the museum items stored at RAF Stafford.

Don Touhig: As the RAF museum is a non-departmental public body, the day-to-day running is a matter for the Board of Trustees and the senior management team.
	I understand that items held within the RAF museum's reserve collection, at RAF Stafford, are available to members of the public by appointment, as the site is not suitable for general public access. The RAF museum regularly reviews the items kept on display at its two public sites, and suitable items from the reserve collection may be included in the revised displays.

Reserve Forces

Linda Gilroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of the rate of deployment on the rate of recruitment for each of the reserve forces.

Don Touhig: holding answer 13 February 2006
	There is no evidence to date to suggest that the rate of deployment has had any significant effect on the rate of recruitment for each of the reserve forces.

Roadside Bombs

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures are under development to protect British forces from shaped roadside bombs; and when these measures will be introduced.

Adam Ingram: We continually adapt our training, tactics and procedures to ensure that our troops are not exposed to unnecessary risks in theatre. Additional measures to counter the evolving threat posed by roadside bombs are developed on an ongoing basis and introduced when they are sufficiently mature. However, information regarding specific measures is operationally sensitive.

Royal Navy

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of Royal Navy service personnel went to sea in (a) 2005, (b) 1995 and (c) 1985.

Don Touhig: The information is not held centrally in the form requested.
	Information is however available on RN frontline personnel. These personnel work in posts with operational requirements. These personnel may not necessarily spend all their time at sea.
	The data in the following table has been collated for the years 2005 and 1997; there is no data available for 1995 or 1985.
	
		Percentage
		
			  Frontline Royal Navy personnel Frontline Royal Marines personnel Total frontline personnel 
		
		
			 1997 45.6 62.1 48.1 
			 2005 53.9 65.7 56.0

Senior Officers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) brigadiers and (b) generals were on the active list in the Army in each year since 1997; and what the total strength of the Army was in each year.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 13 February 2006
	The following table shows the General, Brigadier and total strengths of the Regular Army at the 1 April of each year since 1997, and the latest published data as at 1 December 2005.
	
		Regular Army trained and untrained strensths(13)
		
			 Date General (14)(15)(16) Brigadier (16) Total strength (16) 
		
		
			 April-1997 60 170 109,800 
			 April-1998 60 180 109,830 
			 April-1999 60 180 109,720 
			 April-2000 60 180 110,050 
			 April-2001 60 190 109,530 
			 April-2002 50 180 110,050 
			 April-2003 60 180 112,130 
			 April-2004 60 180 112,750 
			 April-2005 60 180 109,290 
			 December 2005 60 180 107,930 
		
	
	(13) Figures are for the Regular Army and therefore exclude full-time reserve service, Gurkhas, the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment and Mobilised Reservists. It includes trained and untrained personnel.
	(14) Includes officers who have held the appointment of chief of general staff and are retained on the active list.
	(15) Figures for Generals include Generals, Lieutenant Generals and Major Generals.
	(16) Figures rounded to the nearest 10.
	The Rank Structure of the UK Regular Forces is published quarterly as a national statistic in the Defence Analytical Services Agency's Tri-Service Publication 9 (TSP 9). This is available publicly on the internet at: www.dasa.mod.uk.

Service Families (Medical Services)

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  what general medical services are provided for the (a) families and (b) partners of those serving in the armed forces; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps he is taking to provide the (a) families and (b) partners of armed forces personnel at RAF Henlow with general medical services; and if he will make a statement.

Don Touhig: At its overseas bases, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) provides primary health care to all entitled dependants, as well as secondary health care in Cyprus and Gibraltar. In Germany, secondary care is provided by the MOD via contracts with regional German hospitals.
	In the UK, the provision of general medical services for families and dependants is the responsibility of the NHS. Depending on the training requirements for Defence medical services staff and on the availability of spare capacity to care for a limited dependant population without compromising the medical centre's primary task, the MOD does provide primary care to dependants at some service medical centre locations.
	The medical centre at RAF Henlow does not, however, conduct GP vocational training, nor does it have the spare capacity to provide health care for dependants. General medical services for dependants at RAF Henlow are therefore provided by the NHS. The local RAF welfare support services can provide details of the local NHS practices where dependants can register.

Service Widows/Widowers

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  under what circumstances the (a) widow and (b) widower of a former member of armed forces personnel may claim all or part of his or her spouse's pension;
	(2)  what pension the (a) widow and (b) widower of a former member of service personnel is entitled to if their partner's death was (i) a result of service in HM armed forces and (ii) not related to service in HM armed forces.

Don Touhig: A widow or widower of a former member of the armed forces is entitled to claim pension benefits if the member dies in retirement with a preserved pension or a pension already in payment. However, where the widow or widower married the member after the member left the armed forces, only the service given on or after 6 April 1978 will count towards their pension.
	There are a range of benefits paid on the death of a former member. The level of benefit depends on a number of factors including date and cause of death, rank, salary and number of dependent children. I will arrange for the scheme booklets that cover these issues in more detail to be placed in the House Library. These booklets are available on www.mod.uk (with a search on 'pensions').

Space Tracking and Surveillance System

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the space tracking and surveillance system will be operational.

Adam Ingram: This is a matter for the US Government which are developing this system for US use.

Submarines

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK ports cater for (a) UK nuclear submarines and (b) UK submarines armed with nuclear weapons; and if he will list those where maintenance of (i) UK nuclear submarines and (ii) UK submarines armed with nuclear weapons is carried out.

Adam Ingram: Nuclear-powered submarines have two base ports in the UK: HMNB Clyde at Faslane and HMNB Devonport at Plymouth. In addition, nuclear-powered submarines are being built at Barrow-in-Furness. All three ports have facilities for the maintenance of the vessels' nuclear propulsion plants but, once submarines are in service, all such maintenance is carried out at Faslane or Devonport.
	Nuclear-powered submarines are permitted to berth at five other locations in the UK (RNAD Coulport, HMNB Portsmouth, Loch Ewe, Loch Goil and Broadford Bay). Work is underway to authorise further UK ports for nuclear powered submarine visits, including Southampton and Portland. Maintenance of the submarines' nuclear propulsion systems is not carried out in any of these five existing berths, nor will it be at the two proposed ones. However, routine maintenance of non-nuclear systemswhich is a normal part of maintaining any vessel, including nuclear-powered submarinescan be conducted at any suitable location.
	The classification of berths for nuclear powered submarines does not differentiate between those armed with nuclear and/or conventional weapons.

Type 45 Destroyers

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) original estimated cost and (b) cost on completion was for HMS Daring; and what the (i) original and (ii) current estimate is for each of the other ships in the order.

Adam Ingram: The Ministry of Defence does not hold cost information in the way the question seeks it. However, I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 19 December 2005, Official Report, column 2349W.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bearer Shares (Crown Dependencies)

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which Crown Dependencies permit (a) the issuance and (b) trading in bearer shares.

Bridget Prentice: I am advised by the Governments of the Crown Dependencies that the issuance of, or trading in, bearer shares is not permitted in Jersey. Bearer shares are also not permitted under Guernsey companies legislation. Since April 2004 the issuance of bearer shares has no longer been permitted in the Isle of Man and any already in existence were disenfranchised unless converted into registered shares. There is a possibility that some remain in existence as registered shares and they could be passed from one person to another, but the Isle of Man Government are not aware of any trading taking place in bearer shares more widely.

Ethiopia

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the political and security situation in Ethiopia, with particular reference to the reported violence in rural areas of the country.

Ian Pearson: We remain concerned at the reports of ongoing sporadic violence in rural areas of Ethiopia, which demonstrate the continuing political and social divisions in the community. The people of Ethiopia need the reassurance of a peaceful, just and democratic future. To this end, we continue to urge the Government of Ethiopia, and opposition, to exercise restraint, return to inclusive peaceful dialogue and continue the democratisation process. We stand ready to support Ethiopia in achieving this.

Ethiopia

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the defence attache in Addis Ababa last visited the ex-Somaliland Scouts Association.

Ian Pearson: The defence attache from Addis Ababa visited the Somaliland Scouts Association in Hargeisa on 28 April and 14 September 2005. The principal purpose of the first visit was to discuss the ex-Scouts' welfare. In this context he explained that the UK Government had made provision for their pensions at independence and therefore has no residual responsibility. He also discussed ways in which the defence section in Addis Ababa could assist with communications to the relevant UK charities to address demonstrable cases of hardship and followed this up on his second visit.

Press Coverage

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions since 1 April 2003 he has complained to the Press Complaints Commission about the coverage in the press of (a) Ministers or officials and (b) his Department; and how many of these complaints were upheld.

Jack Straw: None.

Somalia

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the security situation in Somalia.

Ian Pearson: Somalia has had no effective Government since 1991. We are supporting the establishment of Transitional Federal Institutions to restore peace and security, but in the interim most of Somalia continues to be controlled by armed clans and factions which frequently resort to violence. We therefore advise against all travel to Somalia because of the terrorist threat, the dangerous level of criminal activity and internal insecurity. Westerners and those working for western organisations have been targeted in recent shootings.

Somalia

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the activities of (a) al-Qaeda and (b) Islamic fundamentalists in Somalia.

Ian Pearson: The absence of effective Government in Somalia creates a vacuum in which terrorists, such as, al-Qaeda, operate, threatening the region and the wider international community. Islamic fundamentalists are seeking to create an Islamic State in Somalia. We have been closely engaged in the Somali national reconciliation conference and the subsequent political process. We continue to work closely with the UN and other members of the international community to achieve a comprehensive and lasting settlement and a return to good governance in Somalia, through the establishment of Transitional Federal Institutions and a return to democracy.

Staff Pay

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many staff in his Department are paid on a performance-related basis.

Ian Pearson: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office employs a total of 6,078 UK-based staff, including inward secondees from other Departments, at its locations in the United Kingdom and overseas. All are paid on a performance-related basis.
	Locally-engaged (LE) staff at posts overseas are employed and paid on the basis of prevailing local practice. All posts have been asked to introduce wherever possible performance-related pay systems, although we have no details of the numbers of LE staff to whom this currently applies.

Sudan/Chad

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of cross-border attacks by militias between Sudan and Chad; and what discussions he has had with the (a) African Union and (b) UN on measures to reduce such attacks.

Ian Pearson: Relations between Chad and Sudan have been strained since the rebel attack on Adre, Chad on 18 December last year. Although an attack on that scale has not reoccurred, the security situation on the border remains extremely tense, with both Chadian and Sudanese militias operating. We have made clear our view that no action should be taken to inflame this situation and my noble Friend, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, did so most recently during the Sudanese Foreign Minister's visit to London on 3 February.
	We welcome the signing in Libya of an agreement between Chad and Sudan on 8 February in which the two countries pledged to improve bilateral relations and refrain from supporting rebel militias. We will press both Governments to fulfil their commitments and our embassy in Khartoum is in regular contact with the African Union and the UN in order to monitor the situation.

UK Diplomatic Posts (Security)

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the security of UK embassies and consulates in countries where there have been demonstrations about the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

Ian Pearson: There has been no specific change in the threat to the security of our posts overseas as a direct result of the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. However, we have been in touch with all our posts to provide additional security advice in the event of possible demonstrations and advised that they maintain a heightened level of vigilance.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Business Investment

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) level of inward investment and (b) number of new start up businesses in Northern Ireland was in each year since 2000, broken down by council area.

Angela Smith: Table (a) as follows provides the level of inward investment associated with assisted projects for each of the financial years 200001 to 200405, analysed by district council area.
	
		Table (a)(17): Total planned investment --  million
		
			 District council 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 Grand total 
		
		
			 Antrim  24.8 0.5  16.4 41.8 
			 Ards 2.1  2.8 0.0 0.1 5.0 
			 Armagh   0.4   0.4 
			 Ballymena 2.5 10.0  14.4  26.9 
			 Banbridge 2.9 2.9 
			 Belfast 43.9 25.6 7.0 98.8 66.2 241.5 
			 Carrickfergus 35.1 6.9 5.4   47.4 
			 Castlereagh  22.5   1.8 24.3 
			 Coleraine 0.0 0.0 
			 Cookstown   1.4  22.6 24.0 
			 Craigavon 1.5 16.3 37.9 12.8 33.1 101.6 
			 Derry 9.3 13.5 92.0 11.7 37.1 163.7 
			 Down  3.43.4 
			 Dungannon 0.7 11.8  0.1 4.2 16.8 
			 Fermanagh  0.6 7.9 3.9 0.0 12.4 
			 Larne0.9 8.0 8.9 
			 Limavady 34.0   1.1  35.1 
			 Lisburn  17.5   1.1 18.5 
			 Magherafelt0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 Moyle 6.5 6.5 
			 Newry and Mourne 5.0 9.0 0.6   14.5 
			 Newtownabbey 129.3 41.5  0.0 0.0 170.9 
			 North Down  0.3 1.6 1.2 5.3 8.4 
			 Omagh  27.727.7 
			 Strabane 1.3  9.3 4.4 4.4 19.4 
			 Grand total (18)264.7 (18)231.4 (18)166.7 (18)149.4 (18)209.7 (18)1,021.8 
		
	
	(17) Planned investment ( million) by assisted inward investment projects 200001 to 200405.
	2 Some differences between table totals may arise due to rounding.
	Table (b) as follows presents the number of assisted business starts during the same time period.
	
		Table (b)(18)
		
			 District council 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 Grand total 
		
		
			 Antrim 17 25 47 51 83 223 
			 Ards 57 65 95 152 155 524 
			 Armagh 59 50 85 112 129 435 
			 Ballymena 47 49 64 59 99 318 
			 Ballymoney 15 19 39 38 64 175 
			 Banbridge 44 54 67 81 105 351 
			 Belfast 95 118 211 319 429 1,172 
			 Carrickfergus 11 22 41 52 86 212 
			 Castlereagh 22 33 48 71 103 277 
			 Coleraine 42 26 63 71 124 326 
			 Cookstown 57 47 62 75 104 345 
			 Craigavon 81 67 93 136 196 572 
			 Derry 119 102 140 212 360 933 
			 Down 83 92 96 157 233 661 
			 Dungannon 34 57 80 116 151 438 
			 Fermanagh 104 80 93 148 227 652 
			 Larne 26 23 56 61 88 254 
			 Limavady 37 28 46 66 112 289 
			 Lisburn 47 62 154 126 164 553 
			 Magherafelt 59 64 102 109 131 465 
			 Moyle 8 9 15 17 41 90 
			 Newry and Mourne 153 132 162 145 274 866 
			 Newtownabbey 29 33 83 143 139 427 
			 North Down 60 92 82 127 137 498 
			 Omagh 43 45 65 75 104 332 
			 Strabane 25 40 43 62 83 253 
			 Grand total 1,374 1,434 2,132 2,781 3,921 11,642 
		
	
	(18) Number of assisted start-ups by district council area 200001 to 200405

Carers (Subsidised Travel)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to provide subsidised travel for carers in Northern Ireland.

Shaun Woodward: I have no plans at present to provide subsidised travel for carers in Northern Ireland. The Department for Regional Development is committed to reviewing the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme. This review is due to commence shortly. Options for extending provision, including to carers, will be considered as part of this review.

Carers (Subsidised Travel)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to extend the Northern Ireland concessionary fares scheme to include carers; how many people he expects would benefit as a result; how much the extension would cost; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: I have no plans, at present, to extend concessionary travel on public transport to include carers. The Department for Regional Development is committed to reviewing the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme. This review is due to commence shortly. Options for extending provision, including to carers, will be considered as part of this review.

Citizens Jury

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on how many occasions his Department consulted citizens juries on departmental policies in the last five years; in how many of those consultations the recommendations of the citizens jury differed from existing departmental policy; and on how many occasions departmental policy was changed to reflect the recommendations of the citizens jury.

Peter Hain: The Northern Ireland Office has never consulted citizens juries on departmental policies.
	Although the Northern Ireland Office has not used citizens juries we do provide an opportunity for stakeholders and the wider public to contribute to NIO polices and legislation including where appropriate focus groups and public meetings. The aim is to increase the involvement of people and groups in public consultation and to seek their views. Consultations are carried out in accordance with the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Written Consultation and the consultation period will normally last for a minimum of 12 weeks to give the public time to respond. The Northern Ireland Office website www.nio.gov.uk provides a library of consultations and where available the summary of responses and associated revision to the policy or legislation.

Invest Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what discussions have taken place between representatives of Invest Northern Ireland and (a) each district council in Northern Ireland and (b) Larne Enterprise Development Company in the last 12 months; and what representations Invest Northern Ireland have received from each.

Angela Smith: In the last 12 months, Invest NI staff have represented the agency at 383 meetings of committees/partnerships that have either been council led or have included council involvement. In most cases these meetings involved more than one council. A breakdown for each individual council area is given in the following table.
	In addition, staff throughout the agency, and in particular its local office network, are regularly involved in discussions with local councils in relation to a broad range of Invest NI's functions and activities.
	In the same period, Invest NI's chief executive also met with ten local councils to update them on Invest NI's current activity in their areas and to discuss any issues of concern (these meetings are also captured in the following table). During this period each council was also invited to meet with Invest NI's chairman and chief executive to comment on Invest NI's 200508 draft corporate plan.
	Invest NI has invested considerable time and effort to build a positive working relationship with Larne Enterprise Development company (LEDCOM) and staff from the agency have attended a total of 43 formal meetings or events associated with LEDCOM during the last 12 months. In addition there have been many other informal discussions between Invest NI and LEDCOM.
	
		
			   Council Number of meetings involving representatives of council and Invest NI 
		
		
			 Antrim 39 
			 Ards 40 
			 Armagh C and DC 48 
			 Ballymena 43 
			 Ballymoney 43 
			 Banbridge 43 
			 Belfast CC 54 
			 Carrickfergus 48 
			 Castlereagh 15 
			 Coleraine 55 
			 Cookstown 37 
			 Craigavon 50 
			 Derry CC 50 
			 Down 43 
			 Dungannon and South Tyrone 49 
			 Fermanagh 36 
			 Larne 42 
			 Limavady 33 
			 Lisburn CC 16 
			 Magherafelt 19 
			 Moyle 39 
			 Newry and Mourne 57 
			 Newtownabbey 39 
			 North Down 36 
			 Omagh 47 
			 Strabane 54

Planning Appeal Commission

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Planning Appeal Commission hearings were held in Northern Ireland in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Smith: The Planning Appeals Commission is a tribunal non-departmental public body, and the chief commissioner has written to the hon. Gentleman. A copy of the letter has been placed in the Library.

Post-primary Education

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will carry out an audit of the post-primary schools estate in Northern Ireland to establish the (a) extent and (b) cost of (i) investment and (ii) divestment that would be necessary to implement the changes proposed in the draft Education (Northern Ireland) Order.

Angela Smith: The changes being proposed by the draft Education (Northern Ireland) Order do not necessarily require accommodation changes. As local collaboration plans are developed to meet the entitlement framework there may be a need to provide facilities in some schools in support of the new arrangements, and these would be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has also announced recently an independent review of education in Northern Ireland which will look at the strategic planning of the whole estate, taking account of provision for 14 to 19-year-olds. Conclusions from the review would therefore inform implementation of decisions following consultation on the draft Order.

Tourism

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to assist the hospitality industry in Northern Ireland to improve further the levels of service to visitors.

Angela Smith: The tourism and hospitality sector has been identified as a key area for achieving economic growth in Northern Ireland. There are a number of Government agencies working together to assist the hospitality industry in areas such as customer service, staff skills development and competitiveness by providing a range of initiatives and programmes.
	Government supports the People 1st Sector Skills Council to identify the skills needs of the hospitality industry in Northern Ireland and to broker a formal agreement between Government, educators and employers to meet these skill needs. In addition, hospitality and tourism has been identified as a priority skill area for further education by the Department for Employment and Learning.
	Invest NI also has an important role to play; client companies of Invest NI, including those with a tourism focus, can avail of a range of support for businesses such as the Business Improvement Training programme which is targeted at delivering company specific projects which address specific training and development issues. Mentoring support may also be provided aimed at helping companies improve their product and service.
	NITB as the strategic leader of tourism has as one of the objectives of the Strategic Framework for Action 20042007 'The Delivery of Memorable Experiences'. One of the delivery mechanisms for this objective is a series of Masterclasses the aim of which is to raise the performance in the tourism industry and develop international competitiveness. NITB, in conjunction with Tourism Training Trust (TTT) has recently completed a review of the Welcome to Excellence suite of training programmes for the hospitality industry and TTT in conjunction with other tourism stakeholders will be encouraging the hospitality industry to avail of this training.

HEALTH

Children (Behavioural Problems)

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children were referred to NHS services with behavioural problems in 200405, broken down by local education authority.

Liam Byrne: Information is not collected in the format requested. An Office for National Statistics survey, Mental Health of Children and Young People, 2004 (September 2005) found that 6 per cent., of children aged five to 6 had a conduct disorder.

Colon Cancer

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of (a) the number and (b) the proportion of the population of England aged over 50 who have been screened for cancer of the colon; what plans she has (i) to promote and (ii) to extend such screening; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of the population likely to be screened in the future.

Rosie Winterton: Screening for bowel cancer in England is currently only available as part of the English bowel cancer screening pilot in Coventry and Warwickshire. The pilot began in 2000, and is now into its third round of screening. People aged 58 to 69 are sent a kit called a faecal occult blood (FOB) test, which looks for hidden blood in the stools, an indicator that bowel cancer may be present. People are invited every two years, and complete the kit in their own homes before returning it to the laboratory where the results are interpreted.
	Around two percent., of people who take the FOB test will be positive, and they are invited for a full bowel investigation called a colonoscopy.
	In 200405, 31,074 people were screened at a cost of around 800,000. Research and an independent evaluation of the pilot have shown that around 60 percent., of the population take up their invitations to participate in bowel cancer screening.
	The Government have stated its commitment to a national bowel cancer screening programme. On 30 January 2006, the new Health White Paper, Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services reaffirmed that the programme will be rolled out from April 2006. Departmental budgets for 200607 are currently being finalised, and announcements will be made in due course.

Free Care

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what directions she plans to give to NHS trusts following the recent decision by the High Court to clarify the responsibility between the NHS and social services departments on what constitutes (a) free care and (b) means-tested care.

Liam Byrne: I intend to reinforce existing guidance to the national health service and local councils, alerting them to the decision of the High Court and ensuring that their current local policies are in line with the judgement. In April, we will publish for consultation a national framework for NHS continuing care, which will give further clarity and consistency on the responsibilities of NHS and social services for long term care.

Maternity Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many midwifery assistants have been employed by Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: The table shows the number of unqualified maternity nursing staff employed by Southport and Ormskirk Hospital National Health Service Trust.
	
		NHS hospital and community health services: unqualified maternity nursing staff employed by Southport and Ormskirk NHS Trust as at 30 September each specified year -- Headcount
		
			  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Unqualified nurses 33 39 33 30 14 
			 Nursery nurse (19) 1 (19) (19) (19) 
			 Nursing assistant/auxiliary 33 38 33 30 14 
		
	
	(19) zero
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census.

NHS Trusts

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 151W, on NHS trusts, if she will list the NHS organisations with which turnaround teams will be working; what the total number of staff is in those teams; and whether their reports will be made public.

Jane Kennedy: The turnaround teams were announced by the Secretary of State in a ministerial statement on 1 December 2005, Official Report, column 37WS.
	The first stage of this is a baseline assessment, the aim of which is to ensure there is an agreed understanding of the local financial problem and that actions are in hand to address this. The contract for the baseline assessment was awarded to consultants KPMG. The full list of organisations where baseline assessments are being undertaken is as follows.
	KPMG identified the specific staffing requirements to undertake the baseline assessments.
	I released a report from the Director of Finance of the Department of Health on 25 January 2006. This gives the results of the first phase of assessments. Further reports will follow.
	Organisations subject to baseline assessment
	Norfolk Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA
	Cambridge City PCT
	South Cambridgeshire PCT
	Ipswich PCT and Suffolk Coastal NHS Trust
	Suffolk West PCT
	Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn NHS Trust
	West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust
	Broadlands PCT
	Waveney PCT
	North Norfolk PCT
	Southern Norfolk PCT
	Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA
	Bedfordshire Heartlands PCT
	Bedford Hospitals NHS Trust
	West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	Dacorum PCT
	East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust
	Essex SHA
	Chelmsford PCT
	Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust
	Essex Rivers Trust
	Colchester PCT
	Tendring PCT
	Witham, Braintree and Halstead Care PCT
	North West London SHA
	Hillingdon PCT
	Hounslow PCT
	Kensington and Chelsea PCT
	West Middlesex University NHS Trust
	Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
	North West London Hospitals NHS Trust
	North Central London SHA
	Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals NHS Trust
	Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust
	North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust
	South East London SHA
	Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust
	Queen Mary's Sidcup NHS Trust
	The Lewisham Hospital NHS Trust
	Bexley PCT
	Bromley PCT
	Lewisham PCT
	Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust
	South West London SHA
	Wandsworth PCT
	Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust
	Kingston PCT
	St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust
	County Durham and Tees Valley SHA
	Sedgefield PCT
	South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust
	North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust
	North and East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire SHA
	Yorkshire Wolds and Coast PCT
	Scarborough, Whitby and Ryedale PCT
	Selby and York PCT
	West Yorkshire SHA
	Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	Cheshire and Mersey SHA
	Cheshire West PCT
	The Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	East Cheshire NHS Trust
	Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust
	Thames Valley SHA
	Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust
	Hampshire and IoW SHA
	New Forest PCT
	East Hampshire PCT and Fareham and Gosport PCT
	Southampton University Hospital NHS Trust
	North Hampshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	Isle of Wight Trust
	Isle of Wight PCT
	North Hampshire PCT
	Blackwater Valley and Hart PCT
	Surrey and Sussex SHA
	The Royal West Sussex NHS Trust
	Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
	East Elmbridge and Mid Surrey PCT
	Guildford and Waverley PCT
	Ashford and St. Peters Trust
	Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust
	Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA
	West Wiltshire PCT
	South Wiltshire PCT
	Kennet and North Wiltshire PCT
	RUH Bath
	North Somerset PCT
	Weston Area Health Trust
	Cotswold and Vale PCT
	Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA
	North Stoke PCT
	University Hospitals of North Staffordshire NHS Trust
	Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust
	Birmingham and the Black Country SHA
	Royal Wolverhampton Hospital NHS Trust
	Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust
	Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust
	West Midlands South SHA
	South Warwickshire NHS Trust
	George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust
	South Yorkshire SHA
	Barnsley PCT
	Sheffield PCTs (North)
	Sheffield PCTs (South West)
	Sheffield PCTs (South East)
	Sheffield PCTs (West)
	South West Peninsula SHA
	Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
	Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust
	Trent SHA
	United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
	High Peak and Dales PCT
	Cumbria and Lancashire SHA
	Morecambe Bay Trust
	Morecambe Bay PCT
	North Cumbria Trust
	Kent and Medway SHA
	Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust
	Maidstone Weald PCT
	South West Kent PCT

Post-natal Depression

Michael Wills: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what target she has set for the percentage of mothers identified with post-natal depression receiving treatment.

Liam Byrne: The maternity standard of the national service framework for children, young people and maternity services requires all professionals involved in the care of women immediately following childbirth to be able to distinguish normal emotional and psychological changes from significant mental health problems, and to refer women for support according to their needs.

Professional Misconduct

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions of NHS employees there have been under sections 38 to 41 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Fiona Mactaggart: I have been asked to reply.
	Data is not held centrally by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform or the Department of Health on the number of NHS employees who have been prosecuted and found guilty of offences under sections 38 to 41 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many failed asylum seekers applied for judicial review of their decisions in 2005.

Tony McNulty: Information on judicial reviews is published annually. Copies are available from the Library of the House and on the Home Office research development and statistics directorate website at http://homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html. Data for 2005 will be available in August 2006.

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) immigration staff, (b) female immigration officers and (c) male immigration officers were in post at each of the asylum removal centres in the last period for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: The information requested is set out in the table.
	
		IND staff employed in immigration removal centres(as at end January 2006)
		
			  Total staff Male Female 
		
		
			 Campsfield 6 2 4 
			 Colnbrook 8 1 7 
			 Dover 8 5 3 
			 Dungavel 7 4 3 
			 Harmondsworth 43 17 26 
			 Haslar 6 3 3 
			 Lindholme 6 3 3 
			 Oakington 50 22 28 
			 Tinsley 6 3 3 
			 Yarl's Wood 22 11 11 
			 Total 162 71 91 
		
	
	Note:
	At all the centres there are both operational (warranted) and non-operational (administrative) staff who are responsible for managing contacts between detainees and case holders and for monitoring the custodial service, provided by contractors. There are additional members of staff at each of Harmondsworth, Oakington and Yarl's Wood who are responsible for performing on site casework for the non suspensive appeals (NSA) and fast track asylum processes.

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library copies of the Home Office guidance issued to immigration officers on making decisions on whether to detain asylum applicants.

Tony McNulty: Guidance to immigration officers on making decisions on whether to detain asylum applicants is contained in chapter 38 of the Operational Enforcement Manual (OEM) and in chapter 31 of the immigration directorate's instructions (IDIs). Both documents are maintained and updated as electronic guidance. Both are available from the IND website.

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers who had fully complied with their reporting requirements were detained in 2005.

Tony McNulty: 3,481 people were detained at Immigration Service reporting events during 2005. For the first quarter of the year, the figure contains both asylum and non-asylum cases as the data was not separately collated. Sifting out such cases could now only be achieved by the examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost. Also, without similar reference to individual records, it is not possible to confirm that all of these individuals had been fully compliant with reporting restrictions throughout their applications.

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many asylum seekers were detained in removal centres in each of the last three years.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office does not hold information on the total number of persons who were detained in each of the last three years. It would only be available by examination of individual case files at disproportionate cost. Quarterly snapshots are published showing the number of persons detained solely under Immigration Act powers on the last Saturday of each quarter. This information may be found in the quarterly asylum statistics publication and can be found on the Home Office research development and statistics directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what average time social services took to respond to a call to collect an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child in the last period for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office does not hold centrally figures relating to the social services response time to collect an unaccompanied asylum seeking child and as these figures are not routinely recorded at United Kingdom ports they could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost of (a) formal investigation of an immigration complaint by the immigration and nationality directorate and (b) processing a service-level complaint was in the last period for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: The costs associated with the immigration and nationality directorate's complaints process are variable, depending on the precise nature of the complaint and the investigation undertaken. Therefore these figures are not available.

Asylum/Immigration

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the annual wage is of an (a) immigration officer and (b) entry clearance officer.

Tony McNulty: The information is as follows.
	(a) The annual basic salary of an immigration officer is dependent upon their length of service in the grade, their performance and the location in which they are working. Immigration officers based in London are paid on a scale currently rising from 19,337 to 24,670. Immigration officers working at Gatwick are paid on the same scale.
	Immigration officers based outside of London are paid on a scale currently rising from 18,948 to 24,174. In addition to the basic salary, allowances may be paid according to location and shifts.
	(b) The annual basic salary of an entry clearance officer (ECO) would normally be either on the immigration officer London scale rising from 19,337 to 24,670 or the executive officer scale rising from 18,568 to 22,978.
	Those from a Government Department other than the Home Office are paid on their own Department's scale. In addition, allowances may be paid according to location.

Blueprint Project

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on the Blueprint project in each of the last three years.

Charles Clarke: Expenditure on the Blueprint drug education research programme is shown in the table:
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 200304 1.8 
			 200405 2.3 
			 200506 1.2

British Citizenship

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will waive the fees involved for applying for and gaining British citizenship in circumstances where British subjects who are long-term UK resident wish to travel to countries for whom citizenship is a requirement of entry.

Tony McNulty: It is a legal requirement under section 42 (1) of the British Nationality Act 1981 that the fee payable by virtue of the Act shall be paid before a person is registered as a British citizen. There is, therefore, no discretion to waive fees for any particular group of applicants for British citizenship.

British Citizenship

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received from members of the public on the cost to British subjects of applying for and acquiring British citizenship.

Tony McNulty: There is no record of such representations. To check whether any have been made could be achieved only at disproportionate cost.

Cannabis

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he plans to undertake to highlight the risks of cannabis use.

Charles Clarke: On 19 January, I announced our intention to introduce a comprehensive package of education and public health measures, in partnership with DH, DfES and the police, including:
	targeting young people through the FRANK campaign to raise understanding about the dangerous and illegal impact of cannabis consumption;
	a campaign aimed at the broader public that will be run in partnership with the police and will publicise the penalties for cannabis dealing, production and possession;.
	a campaign to highlight the dangers of cannabis of those with an existing mental health condition aimed at sufferers, carers and health professionals.
	The package of communications will ensure that no one, including young people, is left in any doubt about the harms and legal status of cannabis.

Child Protection

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures he has taken to reduce the incidence of children accessing obscene images on the internet.

Paul Goggins: The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) was formed following an agreement between the Government, police and the internet service provider industry that a partnership approach was needed to tackle the distribution of child abuse images online. It provides a 'notice and take down' service to UK ISPs so they can remove illegal content from their servers and works closely with law enforcement agencies to help them trace offenders. The IWF and ISPs have reduced the proportion of potentially illegal content found to be hosted in the UK from 18 per cent. in 1997 to less than 1 per cent. now. We have been working with the main UK ISPs as they put in place technical solutions to prevent their customers accidentally accessing illegal child abuse websites identified by the IWF.
	In November 2005, we published the 'Good Practice Guidance for Search Safe Providers and Advice to the Public on How to Search Safely' document. This gives advice to the public on how to make good use of search engines to explore the internet and reduce the risk of being exposed to unwanted and unsuitable results. We are also working with industry to develop a BSI standard for software that helps parents control what their children access on the internet.
	We launched a 1 million public awareness campaign on 15 January this year. The campaign is the latest wave of our awareness activity and includes advice for parents and children on how to use the internet safely, including how to avoid accessing illegal images.
	We have announced the creation of the new Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, which will be operational from April 2006. The centre will be a focal point for police, child protection and industry work to ensure that children can use the internet safely.

Commission for Racial Equality

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total budget for the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was in (a) 200405 and (b) 200506; how much funding the CRE has received in each year since 200001 to support its work with public bodies to promote race equality; and how much it will receive in 200607 for that work.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 31 January 2006
	The total budget for the CRE comprises the grant-in-aid it receives from the Home Office plus income from other sources. In 200405, its total budget was 19.7 million, made up of 19.2 million grant-in-aid and 0.5 million other income. In 200506 its grant-in-aid is 19.1 million and Parliamentary Supply Estimates assume that the CRE will receive 0.5 million in other income. Estimates for 200607 are still in preparation.
	In 200102 the CRE's grant-in-aid was increased by 3 million to provide for the cost of its new enforcement duties under the provisions of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, including its work with public bodies to promote race equality. As this sum was built into the baseline for subsequent years, it is not possible to identify how much of its grant-in-aid for later years relates to this work.

Consultants

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department takes to ensure that consultancies do not claim excessive expenses while working for the Department and its agencies.

Charles Clarke: Contracts provide that expenses are reimbursed on the basis of reasonable costs actually incurred within the standard limits of travel and subsistence rates paid to civil servants of equivalent status. Expenses will not be paid for assignments based within London. Claims are validated by Departmental supervisory staff. Invoices are paid in arrears and are monitored to ensure costs comply with the contract. Consultants are required under contract to retain records of reimbursable costs for two years for audit purposes.

Crack Cocaine

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of crack cocaine users in the UK.

Charles Clarke: The British Crime Survey (BCS) provides an estimate of the number of people in England and Wales who used drugs in the year before interview. The estimated numbed of people aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales who had used crack cocaine in the previous year obtained from the BCS for the year 200405 is 32,000.
	The BCS is a good measure of drug use in the general population and provides a consistent measure of trends over time. However it should be noted that, as a survey of households, the BCS does not cover some groups who may have relatively high rates of crack cocaine use, such as the homeless and prisoners. Nor, in practice, will any household survey cover people whose lives are so busy or chaotic that they are hardly ever at home. Therefore these estimates may underestimate the number of crack users in the country. Home Office commissioned research to obtain better estimates of the number of problematic drug users, including crack users, on a regular basis is currently under way.

Criminal Justice System (Ethnic Monitoring)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the level of ethnic monitoring at all stages of the criminal justice system; and how it has changed since 1997.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Government recognises the importance of ethnic monitoring in the criminal justice system and the necessity of continuing to improve this in order to ensure that the criminal justice system is fair and non-discriminatory.
	Ethnic monitoring based upon visual perception began to be introduced in the criminal justice system in the 1980s. Since one April 2003 agencies have in addition introduced the recording of ethnicity based on self-classification using the 16 categories used in the 2001 census. The aim is to continue to work with agencies on implementing fully the 2001 categories across the criminal justice system over the next few years. The results from this monitoring are annually published by the Home Office in the report Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System. Up until 1997 the published data covered racist incidents, homicides, stop and searches, cautioning, persons under the supervision of the probation service or in prison as well as the ethnicity of criminal justice practitioners. Since 1997 the extent of the data published has expanded and now also includes arrests, court proceedings, police complaints and youth offending.

Crown Prosecution Service

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions his Department had with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the prosecutions of (a) Otis Ferry and (b) Maya Evans; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office has had no discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service regarding these cases.

Custody Conditions

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the conditions in which people awaiting trial in custody are kept; and whether any changes are planned to the applicable standards.

Fiona Mactaggart: Unconvicted prisoners have a special status and as far as possible retain their rights as citizens. This includes arrangements to provide more visits and other privileges not available to convicted prisoners. There are no plans to alter the current Prison Service standard.

Domestic Violence

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the new powers of arrest under section 10(1) of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004 will be implemented in England and Wales.

Fiona Mactaggart: Section 10 of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims (DVCV) Act 2004 made the provision for common assault to become an arrestable offence. On 1 January 2006, the existing arrest provisions (under PACE) whereby specific offences are arrestable offences based on the concept of seriousness were replaced by a simplified approach providing a constable with the power of arrest for all offences.
	The exercise of the power will be subject to the constable considering and being able to show that arrest is necessary. A new PACE Code of Practice on Arrest was introduced on 1 January 2006 which set out the necessity principle in line with section 110 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police (SOCAP) Act 2005.
	This has meant that the commencement of section 110 of SOCAP has now overtaken section 10 of the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act. Section 10 of the DVCV Act has therefore been repealed prior to commencement.

Domestic Violence

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision is available in (a) South Yorkshire and (b) Doncaster North constituency to deal with domestic violence.

Fiona Mactaggart: The following provision for domestic violence is available in South Yorkshire and Doncaster North constituency. (a) South Yorkshire Sheffield:Women's Aid: Provides advice, specialist support and safe accommodation for women and children experiencing physical, emotional or sexual abuse. Haven House: Provide advice, specialist support and safe accommodation. Ashiana:
	An Asian Women's Refuge providing advice, support and safe accommodation for women and children who have experienced physical, mental or sexual abuse. Women from Sheffield are referred on to Asian women's refuges in other towns. Young Women's Housing Project: Provides support to young women affected by sexual abuse. They provide a safe house and supported flats for single women and women with children.
	Parson Cross Domestic Abuse Project: Community based project providing telephone support, home visits and a referral service in the Fox Hill and Parson Cross areas. They offer a weekly self help 'Women Talking to Women' group, and offer a support service for children and young people. South East Sheffield Domestic Abuse Project: Community based project also offering a helpline, support and weekly women's self help group in the Woodhouse, Mosborough, Hackenthorpe, Beighton, Waterthorpe and Intake areas. Burngreave Domestic Abuse Project: Community based project in the Burngreave area, providing a helpline and support to women affected by domestic abuse.
	Sheaf Domestic Abuse Project: A community based project covering the Sheaf Valley area. Provide a helpline and support to women or men affected by domestic abuse. Other services:Roshni Asian Women's Resource Centre: Provides advice and information for Asian women in a non-judgmental fashion, and also raises awareness of domestic abuse issues in Asian communities.
	Sheffield Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service: Provides phone and face-to-face counselling, and support groups for women and girls over 13 who have experienced sexual abuse or rape. Priority is given to Black women and women with disabilities.
	Women's Counselling and Therapy Service: Work with women who have experienced childhood sexual abuse, and provide a general counselling service to young women (aged 16 to 25).Sheffield Working Women's Opportunities Project (SWWOP): Support women working in street prostitution. NSPCCThe NSPCC offer direct help to children and young people where there are significant concerns in relation to child abuse. Provide a national 24 hour helpline for advice and counselling. Rotherham:Rotherham Women's Refuge: Provides safe and supportive temporary accommodation to women, and women and their children escaping violence, four women and up to six children can be accommodated at any one time.
	Choices and Options: An outreach/support service for women experiencing domestic violence. Apna Haq: An outreach/support service for non-white women particularly Asian women focussing on those who are or have experienced domestic violence, forced marriage, abandonment or sexual harassment. Risky Business: Works with girls/young women at risk from sexual exploitation Rotherham Women's Counselling Service: Provides counselling on a one to one for women who have experienced domestic violence and or sexual abuse. Barnsley:Primary Care Trust: 100,000 has been provided over two years for the provision of domestic abuse counselling and training. Barnsley Domestic Violence Group: Help and support for men and women, support groups, counselling, drop in facilities and helpline.
	Barnsley Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Helpline: Telephone and face to face counselling for women who have been raped or sexually abused at any time in their lives. Women's Refuge: Refuge for women and children fleeing domestic violence. Support, advice, befriending and counselling. Referral via Samaritans. Pathways: Additional 88,000 has been identified from Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) for Pathways; an organisation that provides a wide range of services to victims of domestic abuse. (b) Doncaster Women's Aid: provides a service to women and their children who are living with, or fleeing Domestic Violence. Doncaster Women's Aid (DWA) works in accordance with the definition of Domestic Violence as decided upon by the Doncaster Domestic Violence Working Party.
	Doncaster Women's Centre: The centre offers support, information, counselling, training and volunteering opportunities to women.H.E.L.P. Holidays: A non-profit making charity run mainly by people who are or have been lone parents. Dedicated to providing, high quality, low cost holidays for lone parent families. (Restricted to Members only). In respect of provision to deal with domestic violence in Doncaster North all of the above are accessible across Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council. National services, for example the National Free Phone 24 Hour Help Line, are also available to victims of domestic violence throughout England and Wales.

Drugs

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of how many users of class A drugs there were in the UK in each year from 1998 to 2005.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 30 January 2006
	Estimates of the number of users of class A drugs in each year in the period 1998 to 2005 are presented in the following table.
	
		Number of 16 to 59-year-old users of class A drugs in England and Wales in the year before interview from the British Crime Survey
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1998 (20)809,000 
			 2000 1,001,000 
			 200102 996,000 
			 200203 1,028,000 
			 200304 1,091,000 
			 200405 1,012,000 
		
	
	(20) These point estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to sampling error and have associated confidence intervals.

Drugs

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the average sum spent each day by problematic drug users on drugs; and what percentage of such money he estimates is raised through crime.

Paul Goggins: Current estimates of the average sum spent each day by problematic drug users on drugs are not available.
	
		
			  Average expenditure per day used () 
		
		
			 1998  
			 Amphetamines 9.31 
			 Heroin 28.80 
			 Cocaine 13.68 
			 Cannabis 6.40 
			 Ecstasy 29.94

Drugs

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of users of class A drugs aged under 25 years in each of the last five years; how many (a) residential and (b) non-residential drug treatment places were available in each year; and what estimate he has made of the (i) street price and (ii) volume of circulation of (A) cocaine, (B) crack cocaine and (C) heroin in each year.

Paul Goggins: The available information is given as follows.
	Estimates of the number of users of class A drugs, aged 1624, in each year in the period 2000 to 2005 are presented in table 1.
	The Department of Health does not centrally collate information on the number of drug treatment places available.
	Estimates of the street prices for cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin are shown in table 2. We do not have estimates of the volume of drugs in circulation on an annual basis. 
	
		Table 1: Estimated number of users of class A drugs aged 16 to 24 in England and Wales in the year before interview from the British Crime Survey
		
			  Number of users(21) 
		
		
			 2000 542,000 
			 200102 499,000 
			 200203 474,000 
			 200304 493,000 
			 200405 494,000 
		
	
	(21) These estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to sampling error and have associated confidence intervals.
	
		Table 2: UK average drug prices 200005 -- 
		
			  Cocaine (per gram) Crack (per 0.2 g rock) Heroin (per gram) 
		
		
			 December 2000 65 23 70 
			 December 2001 60 21 63 
			 December 2002 56 20 61 
			 December 2003 55 19 62 
			 December 2004 51 18 55 
			 April 2005 51 19 53

Drugs

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much his Department has spent on campaigns to raise awareness of the health effects of illegal drugs in each year since 1997.

Charles Clarke: The FRANK campaign, launched in May 2003, which is administered and funded jointly by the Home Office and Department of Health, provides young people and their families with information and advice about drugs, including health effects. Spend on media and advertising on FRANK is given in the following table.
	
		 million
		
			  Spend on media and advertising 
		
		
			 200304 3.7 
			 200405 1.9 
			 200506 (planned) 1.4

Drugs Classification

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will refer tobacco and alcohol to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for classification under Schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 as Class A, B or C drugs.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 24 January 2006
	Tobacco and alcohol will not be referred to the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs for the consideration of their control under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.

EU Travel Ban

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to alert Ministers to the entry to the UK of individuals on an EU travel ban list; and whether such mechanisms have been triggered since such bans were introduced.

Tony McNulty: The Secretary of State designates EU and UN travel bans by order made under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971the most recent is the Immigration (Designation of Travel Bans) (Amendment) Order 2005. In accordance with section 8B an individual on an EU or UN travel ban is treated as an excluded person and must be refused entry to the UK. Unless it is considered that one of the exceptions to the obligation to exclude may apply Ministers are not normally approached in individual cases.

Group 4 Securicor

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what key performance indicators are used to evaluate the performance of group 4 Securicor in the provision of the electronic monitoring of offenders.

Fiona Mactaggart: The performance of group 4 Securicor in the operation of electronic monitoring is evaluated in the following areas of service:
	1. Length of breaks in the electronic monitoring service (the period of time for which the service provider is unable to monitor people who are subject to electronic monitoring).
	2. The cumulative period of electronic monitoring service breaks over a rolling 12-month period.
	3. Length of breaks in call centre telephone services availability.
	4. The cumulative period of breaks in call centre telephone services availability over a rolling 12-month period.
	5. Telephone response time by human operator to calls to the free-phone in the call centre.
	6. Availability of a facility to receive electronic notifications of people who are to be monitored.
	7. Installing electronic monitoring equipment and inducting people on to the monitoring programme.
	8. Visiting to remove the electronic monitoring equipment at the end of a monitoring requirement.
	9. Advising those monitored of approved absences during the curfew period.
	10. Reporting instances where the location of a person subject to active tracking is lost and regained, or where the tracking equipment is tampered with.
	11. Contacting the curfew address in the event of an absence exceeding a specified time.
	12. Reporting a violation of an exclusion requirement to the relevant authority.
	13. Informing the relevant authorities of a decision to start breach proceedings, where the service provider is responsible for enforcement action.
	14. Attending court breach hearings.
	15. Timeliness of operational reports.
	16. Providing a monthly statistical report.
	17. Providing exception reports relating to the investigation of incidents, and equipment damage and failure.
	18. Timeliness of providing reports by non-electronic means.
	19. Levels of satisfaction with training provided by the service provider.
	20. No persons employed by the service provider are known to have unspent convictions.
	21. No incorrect confirmation of the identity of people to be monitored at the time of installing monitoring equipment.
	22. Correct staff numbers and types for visits to juveniles.
	23. Information about people being monitored being available to the Home Office within a specified to time of it going on to the service provider's computer system.
	24. Reporting serious complaints against the service provider to the Home Office within a specified time.
	25. Recording and maintaining data about persons already subject to electronic monitoring at the start of the current contracts.

Group 4 Securicor

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many contracts have been awarded to Group 4 Securicor for the provision of electronic monitoring of offenders by (a) his Department and (b) other Government agencies.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office awarded three contracts to Group 4 Securicor for the operation of electronic monitoring in England and Wales from one April 2005. These contracts are for the North East and North West; East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside; and the South East and South West. No such contracts have been awarded by other Government agencies.

Group 4 Securicor

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the value is of contracts between the Government and Group 4 Securicor for the provision of electronic monitoring of offenders.

Fiona Mactaggart: The value of the electronic monitoring contracts depends on the number of people monitored. In the financial year 200506, the total value of the contracts awarded to Group 4 Securicor for electronic monitoring is expected to be about 37 million.

Group 4 Securicor

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to review contracts awarded to Group 4 Securicor for the provision of electronic monitoring of offenders.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Home Office conducts a monthly audit of the performance of Group 4 Securicor against a range of performance measures. A failure to meet the specified service levels results in financial deductions from the amount paid to Group 4 Securicor for providing the electronic monitoring service. The contracts began to operate on one April 2005 and are for a period of five years, which may be extended by up to two more years. They will be reviewed nearer to their expiry date as part of the Government procurement process. The contracts contain standard provisions enabling the government to terminate them early if the contractor defaults on the provision of the service.

Home Detention Curfews

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offenders in Cambridgeshire were on home detention curfews (HDCs) in 200405; and what proportion of these offenders failed to complete the HDC period successfully.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested, as recorded on the Prison Service IT system, is provided in the following table.
	
		Number of persons released from prisons in Cambridgeshire(22) on home detention curfews (HDC) in 200405and percentage of those offenders who failed to complete the HDC period.
		
			  Those released on HDC from Cambridgeshire prisons Recalls Percentage recalled 
			  2004 2005 Total 2004 2005 Total 2004 2005 Total 
		
		
			 Littlehey 45 26 71 5 2 7 11 7.7 9.9 
			 Whitemoor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 
			 Peterborough 0 408 408 0 24 24 0 6.4 5.9 
			 All Cambridgeshire prisons 45 434 479 5 26 31 11 6 6.5 
		
	
	(22) The question has been answered to give the number of prisoners released from Cambridgeshire prisons; information on offenders from Cambridgeshire who have been released on HDC is not held centrally.

Home Detention Curfews

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how many hours in total tagged criminals in (a) Leicester and (b) England and Wales have broken their curfews since 2000.

Fiona Mactaggart: Information is not broken down in the way requested, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Home Detention Curfews

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many tagged criminals in (a) Leicester and (b) England and Wales have broken their curfews since 2000; and what proportion this represents of the total number of tagged criminals in each case;
	(2)  how many criminals in (a) Leicester and (b) England and Wales have been prosecuted for breaking their curfews since 2000.

Fiona Mactaggart: In the period from 1 April 2005 to 31 January 2006, a total of 37,336 people began and ended a period of electronic monitoring in England and Wales.
	Of these, 25,708 (69 per cent.) completed their curfews without breaching, 9,434 (25 per cent.) completed their curfews following one or more breaches, and 2,194 (6 per cent.) had their curfews revoked following breach action. In the same period, in Leicestershire, from a total of 742 people on electronic monitoring, 637 (86 per cent.) completed their curfews without breaching, 83 (11 per cent.) completed their curfews following one or more breaches, and 22 (3 per cent.) had their curfews revoked following breach action. Information is not available for Leicester itself, or for the period before 1 April 2005, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Human Trafficking Convention

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Government will sign the European convention on action against trafficking in human beings.

Paul Goggins: The Government have not yet taken a decision on whether the United Kingdom (UK) will sign the Council of Europe convention on action against trafficking in human beings. Whilst we support the aims of the convention, there are provisions which present some concerns for the UK and which remain under active consideration. We are assessing the level of risk associated with these provisions and looking at how we might implement the convention safely without placing more vulnerable people at risk.
	The Government are committed to tackling trafficking in human beings, domestically and internationally, and has in place a multi-faceted strategy on trafficking in human beings. We are determined that the measures we take bring the criminals responsible for this serious organised crime to justice, protect the victims of trafficking and do not undermine our ability to control our borders.

Identity Cards Scheme

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much has been spent on the identity cards scheme to date.

Charles Clarke: Since the beginning of the financial year 200304, 32.05 million has been spent by the Identity Cards Programme up to the end of December 2005.

Identity Fraud

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his Minister's letter to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak of 23 June 2005, Home Office reference M12110/5, how the identity card scheme will reduce the opportunity for those facilitating terrorist and organised criminals to operate using multiple identities; and how the scheme will monitor the support activities of terrorist networks.

Andy Burnham: The Identity Cards Scheme will combat the use of multiple identities in a number of ways. Details provided in applications will be verified through checks on public and private databases to verify the existence of an identity in society and its link to the applicant.
	Key supporting documentation will be examined to check for inconsistencies where appropriate and applicants will be interviewed personally to verify their details. Enrolment staff will be subject to security checks and working processes will promote accountability and defeat internal collusion. A fraud investigation unit will supervise enrolment and work with law enforcement agencies to investigate suspicious activities. In addition to all of these steps there will be the additional protection of verifying a person's biometrics against previously enrolled identities.
	The biometric check at enrolment will conduct a check against previously registered biometrics to help detect a person attempting to enrol multiple identities or steal the identity of someone who has already enrolled. The cumulative effect of all these measures will make significantly more difficult the use of multiple identities by terrorists and their supporters. The increased security of identity will also help to combat money-laundering and other types of fraud which are perpetrated in support of terrorist activities.
	In cases of serious crime or threats to national security the scheme will provide, subject to appropriate authorisation procedures, the capability for law enforcement and intelligence and security agencies to be provided with information on when a person's record on the Register has been checked or amended. This will make it harder for identified terrorist suspects to disguise transactions such as renting accommodation, hiring cars or buying mobile phones by using multiple identities.

Internet (Improper Use)

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to his answer of 12 September 2005, Official Report, column 2567W, on improper use of the internet, what recent assessment his Department has made of (a) the costs and (b) the timescale for development of the IMPACT programme; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: IMPACT is a key contributor to implementing the recommendations of Sir Michael Bichard's Inquiry into issues surrounding the Soham murders. The costs and timescale of the IMPACT Programme are currently being assessed as part of the work to finalise the business case, which will be considered by the Home Office Group Investment Board in March 2006.
	New capability is already being delivered incrementally to the police service: the IMPACT Nominal Index was made available in a Child Abuse Investigation Unit in each force in England and Wales on 23 December 2005, enabling users in one force to identify which other forces might hold information on a specified individual in their intelligence, crime, custody, domestic violence, firearms and child protection business areas. This will be rolled out to other Child Abuse Investigation Units and into other business areas over the rest of this year.

Juvenile Offenders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were committed by juvenile offenders in (a) Haltemprice and Howden, (b) the East Riding of Yorkshire and (c) the Humberside police authority area in each quarter since 2001; how many cautions were issued in relation to such cases; and how many children in the East Riding of Yorkshire (i) were convicted, (ii) were in local authority care, (iii) received a reprimand, (iv) received a final warning and (v) were found guilty in each year since 2001.

Fiona Mactaggart: Data held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform on the number of juvenile offenders reprimanded, given final warnings, prosecuted, and found guilty of all offences in Humberside police force area, is provided in the following table. Figures are presented for the years 200104. It is not possible to separately identify (a) Haltemprice and Howden, and (b) East Riding of Yorkshire as the data is not collected at this level of detail.
	Data on children looked after is collected by the DfES. Figures for the East Riding of Yorkshire for the years 200104 are available on the DFES website at www.dfes.gov.uk.
	
		Number of juvenile offenders (aged 10 to 17) reprimanded and given final warnings(23), prosecuted(24), and found guilty(25) of all offences in Humberside police force area 200104(26)
		
			  Reprimand(23) Final Warning(23) Prosecuted(24) Found guilty(26) 
		
		
			 Year/Quarter 
			 2001 1,116 589 2,344 1,718 
			 Q1 354 191 714 535 
			 Q2 329 195 432 324 
			 Q3 247 129 658 477 
			 Q4 186 74 540 382 
			  
			 2002 657 375 2,499 1,668 
			 Q1 183 113 655 443 
			 Q2 150 81 561 390 
			 Q3 137 69 661 438 
			 Q4 187 112 622 397 
			  
			 2003 940 409 2,727 1,858 
			 Q1 167 82 690 430 
			 Q2 143 77 687 454 
			 Q3 320 140 683 478 
			 Q4 310 110 667 496 
			  
			 2004 1,425 571 2,796 2,186 
			 Q1 350 140 752 566 
			 Q2 345 138 715 561 
			 Q3 396 184 693 549 
			 Q4 334 109 636 510 
		
	
	(23) Under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 cautions were replaced for juvenileswith reprimands and final warnings.
	(24) Prosecuted at magistrates courts.
	(25) Found guilty at all courts.
	(26) All data given refer to the principal offence only.

Murder Inquiry

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to receive the report from the inquiry team into the murder of John Victor Monkton; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The investigation into the tragic death of John Monckton is being lead by Andrew Bridges, Her Majesty's chief inspector of probation. He will look carefully at what happened in this case, and whether there are wider implications for the release and management of offenders, in particular the case management and risk of Damien Hanson and Elliot White. Mr. Bridges will report back to the Home Secretary with clear recommendations and lessons learnt from the case, which will be published on Her Majesty's inspectorate of probation website on 28 February 2006.

National Offender Management Service

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the National Offender Management Service in Wales requires a statutory regional body corporate for the purposes of (a) employing staff and (b) commissioning services.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 8 February 2006
	The National Offender Management Service in Wales is part of the National Offender Management Service, which is in turn part of the Home Office. As such there would be no necessity to create a separate statutory body for employing staff or commissioning services in Wales.

National Offender Management Service

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how local delivery in the unitary authority area of Wales will be managed under the National Offender Management Service if the current probation boards are abolished.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 8 February 2006
	In the consultation document Restructuring Probation to Reduce Re-offending, published on 20 October 2005, the Government set out its proposals for the future of the probation service in England and Wales. Further announcements on these proposals will be made in due course. Until the future structure of policing in Wales has been decided, it is not possible to be clear about the implications for the probation service.

National Offender Management Service

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what areas he expects the National Offender Management Service in Wales to prioritise within the diversity portfolio of issues in addition to those relating to the Welsh language and disability.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Director for the Offender Management Service in Wales is responsible for ensuring that there is full commitment to all aspects of diversity in developing and providing services to offenders.
	The core principles surrounding this commitment include: recognising and valuing the uniqueness of each individual; embracing difference and treating every-one with dignity and respect; providing fair, accessible, inclusive, appropriate and effective provision that demonstrates a fair service to all; ensuring that no service is disproportionate or unwittingly influenced because of ethnicity, gender, class, religion, culture, age, sexuality or disability; meeting all legislative responsibilities under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Welsh Language Act 1993, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, the Religion and Beliefs Act 2003, and the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) (Amendment) Regulations 2003.
	Joining Together in Walesan Adult and Young People's Strategy to Reduce Re-offendingforms the basis of a consultation to develop a reducing re-offending action plan for Wales. The outcome of the consultation and the subsequent development of the action plan will also help inform the best way to meet diversity issues in Wales.

National Offender Management Service

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he will take to ensure that the implementation of National Offender Management Service (a) procedures and (b) allocated funding are fit for purpose in Wales.

Fiona Mactaggart: Full regard is being given to the difference devolution has made to Government. We will continue to work closely with the Welsh Assembly Government and other partners in Wales in developing the National Offender Management Service in Wales to ensure it is fit for purpose.

National Offender Management Service

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps will be taken under the National Offender Management Service to involve (a) local health trusts and (b) housing departments.

Fiona Mactaggart: The National Assembly for Wales has devolved responsibility for health and housing matters and they are two of the key themes being addressed through Joining Together in Wales: an Adult and Young People's Strategy to Reduce Re-offending.
	The strategy was published jointly between the Welsh Assembly Government and the Home Office. It identifies key issues and work needed to address them and forms the basis of a current consultation to develop a reducing re-offending action plan for Wales that involves all the key stakeholders. In England, NHS Primary Care Trusts started to assume responsibility for the commissioning of prison health services in the public prisons in April 2004 and will assume full responsibility in April 2006.
	In 200506 nearly 176 million has been allocated for prison healthcare. Following on from this transfer of responsibility and funding, a new development programme for extending offender health support is being launched on 8 February. One objective of this programme is to enable the effective co-commissioning of offender health services at all points of the offender's contact with the criminal justice system.
	Regional Offender Managers in England are also working to develop links between local and regional criminal justice and housing services, including local authorities. Schemes under development include the Housing and Returning Prisoners protocol in the North East region, the Community Gateway in the South West region and work across the London Accommodation Pathway.
	The National Probation service is also a formal partner with local housing authorities in the commissioning of housing support services through the 'Supporting People' programme. The new Civil Society Alliance will be working with local authorities and other partners to improve offenders' access to local services, including through involvement in the new Local Area Agreements.

National Offender Management Service

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which organisation in Wales will assume the lead role for the National Offender Management Service.

Fiona Mactaggart: holding answer 9 January 2006
	The Home Office will continue to develop the National Offender Management Service in Wales in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government.

Operation Elucidate

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Chinese nationals were removed under Operation Elucidate in 2005.

Tony McNulty: 172 Chinese nationals were removed under Operation Elucidate in 2005.

Police/Community Support Officers

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the average salary of (a) a newly-trained police constable and (b) a community support officer was in each police force on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Charles Clarke: The information is as follows:
	(a) The table shows the salary of a police constable on completion of initial training and the relevant regional allowance. The pay scales for police constables range from 20,397 for a newly recruited officer, rising to 32,025 for an officer with 10 year's service. Additionally, a constable who has served at the top of the pay scale for one year has access to a competence-related threshold payment of 1,062 per year.
	(b) Salary and other terms and conditions for police community support officers (PCSOs) are determined by the respective police authority. We do not routinely maintain data on PCSO salaries. The most recent data we have on PCSO salary costs and allowances is contained in a report by Accenture on terms and conditions for PCSOs, which was published on three February. The report provides a range of data on basic pay rates and allowances paid to PCSOs and an analysis of the variations between forces. The report found that the typical average salary for PCSOs was 17,269 and the average total cash reward (basic salary plus allowances and overtime) was 20,526. The report is available on the Home Office website:
	http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/community-policing/community-support-officers
	
		Police salaries
		
			 Forces Basic pay() Allowances () 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 22,770  
			 Bedfordshire 22,770 1,000 
			 Cambridgeshire 22,770  
			 Cheshire 22,770  
			 City of London 24,765 4,338 
			 Cleveland 22,770  
			 Cumbria 22,770  
			 Derbyshire 22,770  
			 Devon and Cornwall 22,770  
			 Dorset 22,770  
			 Durham 22,770  
			 Dyfed-Powys 22,770  
			 Essex 22,770 2,000 
			 Gloucestershire 22,770  
			 Greater Manchester 22,770  
			 Gwent 22,770  
			 Hampshire 22,770 1,000 
			 Hertfordshire 22,770 2,000 
			 Humberside(27)(28) 22,770  
			 Kent(27)(28) 22,770 2,000 
			 Lancashire 22,770  
			 Leicestershire 22,770  
			 Lincolnshire 22,770  
			 Merseyside 22,770  
			 Metropolitan 24,765 4,338 
			 Norfolk 22,770  
			 Northamptonshire 22,770  
			 Northumbria 22,770  
			 North Wales 22,770  
			 North Yorkshire 22,770  
			 Nottinghamshire 22,770  
			 South Wales 22,770  
			 South Yorkshire 22,770  
			 Staffordshire 22,770  
			 Suffolk 22,770  
			 Surrey 22,770 2,000 
			 Sussex 22,770 1,000 
			 Thames Valley 22,770 2,000 
			 Warwickshire 22,770  
			 West Mercia 22,770  
			 West Midlands 22,770  
			 West Yorkshire 22,770  
			 Wiltshire 22,770  
		
	
	(27)(28) Shift allowance is included in basic salary.
	(29) This figure is when the higher of one of two Kent location allowances is paid, the salary plus allowance figure when the lower location allowance is paid is 165 less.

Prisoners

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will ensure that all prisons make condoms available anonymously to prisoners and other detainees.

Fiona Mactaggart: Prison doctors were advised in 1995 that they should make condoms available to individual prisoners, on application, if in their clinical judgement, there is a risk of transmission of HIV infection during sexual activity. The Prison Service is planning to issue, in the early part of 2006, revised guidance and instructions which aim to clarify the policy on condoms so that it can be applied more evenly across the prison estate.

Prisoners

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the shortest amount of time served by a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment before being released on licence was in each year between 1987 and 1999.

Fiona Mactaggart: The information requested, as recorded on the Prison Service IT system, is provided in the following table.
	
		Shortest time served(29) by a prisoner sentenced to life before they were released on licence, by:
		
			 Year of release Shortest time served (years)(30) 
		
		
			 1987(31)  
			 1988(31)  
			 1989 5.2 
			 1990 6.9 
			 1991 5.1 
			 1992 3.8 
			 1993 3.5 
			 1994 4.9 
			 1995 7.1 
			 1996 5.2 
			 1997 4.8 
			 1998 6.8 
			 1999 2.0 
		
	
	Calculated using the centralised prisons IT system.
	(30) Time served under sentence
	(31) No data available for these years.

Prisoners

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the Department's policy is on the transport of pregnant prisoners and what guidelines have been issued to the prison service on the matter.

Fiona Mactaggart: NOMS aims to transport pregnant prisoners in non-cellular vehicles, whenever possible. This follows an assessment of their medical and personal needs by prison operational managers and health care professionals. The contractor should be advised of this requirement in advance of the journey. Where this has not happened, and the prisoner declares herself to be pregnant, the contractor must seek the advice of a healthcare professional as to whether a non-cellular vehicle should be used for the transfer.

Prisoners

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners who have converted to Islam whilst in prison in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: Statistics on the religious affiliation of prisoners in 1994 to 2004 is published in Table 8.5 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin: Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004. Copies of this publication are available in the House of Commons Library. Information is not held centrally on the number of prisoners converting to different religions whilst in prison.

Prisoners

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons breached a prison licence due to (a) a further offence, (b) inappropriate behaviour and (c) breaching supervision conditions in each of the last eight years.

Fiona Mactaggart: Information on the number of offenders released on Home Detention Curfew (HDC) or sentenced to four years or more who were recalled to prison as a result of a breach of post custody licence can be found in tables 10.7,10.8 and 10.9 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin: Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2004. Information on the number of offenders sentenced to less than four years who were recalled to prison in 200405 is provided at paragraph 10.12 of the same publication. Copies of this publication are available in the House of Commons Library.
	Specific information on the reasons for the recall in each of the last eight years of those released on parole is provided in the following table. Data held centrally on non-parole cases recalled by specific reason for recall are not sufficiently complete or reliable for publication.
	
		Number of persons recalled from parole by reason for recall
		
			 Reason for recall 199798 199899 19992000 200001 200102 200203 200304 200405 
		
		
			 Further offences 79 94 93 106 90 188 252 265 
			 Being out of touch 48 57 74 85 76 108 177 199 
			 Hostel: failure to reside/comply 29 34 32 41 28 37 48 70 
			 Other reasons 34 48 51 35 135 87 124 178 
			 Total number recalled 190 233 250 267 329 420 601 712

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to ensure the Supply Reduction Good Practice Guide is applied in every prison establishment; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Supply Reduction Good Practice Guide was distributed to all establishments in October 2003. Supply reduction performance is monitored by area managers during routine visits to establishments and bilateral meetings with governors and the director of operations. At an area level performance, is monitored by area drug co-ordinators who receive monthly data on performance targets from establishments. The good practice guide is central to that process.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many investigations for alleged misconduct have been conducted into (a) prison governors and (b) prison officers at each establishment in each of the last five years; what proportion of these investigations led to (i) no action being taken, (ii) revised guidance, (iii) informal disciplinary action and (iv) formal disciplinary action; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: Data on investigations is not collated by grade and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. There have been 7,486 formal investigations between July 2000 and 1 February 2006. Table A details the number of investigations held in prisons, area offices and Prison Service headquarters. Table B details the outcome of the investigations completed in the period July 2000 and 1 February 2006.
	
		Table A: Investigations held in prisons, area offices and Prison Service headquarters in England and Wales between July 2000 and 1 February 2006
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 Acklington 57 
			 Albany 29 
			 Altcourse(32) 9 
			 Ashfield(32) 7 
			 Ashwell 20 
			 Askham Grange 8 
			 Aylesbury 55 
			 Bedford 59 
			 Belmarsh 113 
			 Birmingham 155 
			 Blakenhurst 117 
			 Blantyre House 18 
			 Blundeston 29 
			 Brinsford 45 
			 Bristol 71 
			 Brixton 218 
			 Brockhill 43 
			 Buckley Hall 38 
			 Bullingdon 94 
			 Bullwood Hall 36 
			 Camp Hill 31 
			 Canterbury 70 
			 Cardiff 94 
			 Castington 53 
			 Channings Wood 13 
			 Chelmsford 47 
			 Coldingley 51 
			 Cookham Wood 20 
			 Dartmoor 61 
			 Deerbolt 48 
			 Doncaster(32) 11 
			 Dorchester 23 
			 Dovegate(32) 7 
			 Dover 32 
			 Downview 32 
			 Drake Hall 24 
			 Durham 95 
			 Eastern Area Office 2 
			 East Sutton Park 13 
			 Eastwood Park 54 
			 Edmunds Hill 32 
			 Elmley 132 
			 Erlestoke 44 
			 Everthorpe 19 
			 Exeter 27 
			 Featherstone 34 
			 Feltham 227 
			 Ford 42 
			 Forrest Bank(32) 9 
			 Foston Hall 28 
			 Frankland 60 
			 Full Sutton 82 
			 Garth 28 
			 Gartree 27 
			 Glen Parva 34 
			 Gloucester 45 
			 Grendon 40 
			 Guys Marsh 46 
			 Haslar 26 
			 Haverigg 41 
			 Hewell Grange 2 
			 High Down 167 
			 Highpoint 30 
			 High Security Area Office 1 
			 Hindley 102 
			 Hollesley Bay 9 
			 Holloway 174 
			 Holme House 62 
			 Headquarters 126 
			 Hull 74 
			 Huntercombe 36 
			 Kent Area Office 4 
			 Kingston 19 
			 Kirkham 19 
			 Kirklevington Grange 11 
			 Lancaster Castle 35 
			 Lancaster Farms 50 
			 Latchmere House 21 
			 Leeds 72 
			 Leicester 42 
			 Lewes 105 
			 Leyhill 19 
			 Lincoln 43 
			 Lindholme 20 
			 Littlehey 55 
			 Liverpool 151 
			 London Area Office 5 
			 Long Lartin 45 
			 Low Newton 15 
			 Lowdham Grange(32) 2 
			 Maidstone 79 
			 Manchester 133 
			 Moorland Open 10 
			 Moorland Closed 5 
			 Morton Hall 34 
			 New Hall 58 
			 North Sea Camp 20 
			 Northallerton 23 
			 North West 2 
			 Norwich 54 
			 Nottingham 47 
			 Onley 76 
			 Parc(32) 37 
			 Parkhurst 44 
			 Pentonville 233 
			 Portland 44 
			 Preston 100 
			 Ranby 46 
			 Reading 27 
			 Risley 156 
			 Rochester 73 
			 Rye Hill(32) 11 
			 Send 40 
			 Shepton Mallet 21 
			 Shrewsbury 31 
			 South West Area Office 1 
			 Stafford 82 
			 Standford Hill 30 
			 Stocken 21 
			 Stoke Heath 76 
			 Styal 33 
			 Sudbury 16 
			 Surrey and Sussex Area Office 3 
			 Swaleside 131 
			 Swansea 30 
			 Swinfen Hall 39 
			 Thames Valley, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Area Office 3 
			 The Mount 88 
			 The Verne 49 
			 The Weare 41 
			 Thorne Cross 45 
			 Usk and Prescoed 8 
			 Wakefield 82 
			 Wandsworth 149 
			 Warren Hill 5 
			 Wayland 29 
			 Wealstun 49 
			 Wellingborough 33 
			 Werrington 33 
			 Weatherby 17 
			 West Midlands Area Office 1 
			 Whatton 11 
			 Whitemoor 98 
			 Winchester 70 
			 Wolds(32) 2 
			 Woodhill 64 
			 Wormwood Scrubs 176 
			 Wymott 43 
		
	
	(32) Indicates contracted prisons.
	Note:
	Some of the units at headquarters have since transferred from the Prison Service to the National Offender Management Service.
	
		Table B: The result of investigations held in prisons, area offices and Prison Service headquarters in England and Wales between July 2000 and 1 February 2006
		
			 Award Total 
		
		
			 Investigation Closed/Stopped 43 
			 Individual medically retired 15 
			 No disciplinary action recommended 3,960 
			 Recommendation of disciplinary action not accepted by Commissioning Authority 392 
			 Awaiting outcome of investigation/disciplinary hearing 232 
			 Individual resigned during the investigation 339 
			 Individual retired during the investigation 25 
			 Death in custody (no staff disciplinary element) 70 
			 Case dismissed 188 
			 Final written warning 196 
			 Financial penalty 21 
			 Formal advice and guidance 416 
			 Informal advice and guidance 192 
			 Oral warning 203 
			 Outcome withheld from database due to sensitivity 1 
			 Re-graded 38 
			 Removed from the field of promotion 78 
			 Dismissed 365 
			 Written warning 786 
			 Total 7,560 
		
	
	Note:
	The total number of investigations does not match the total number of investigation outcomes as an investigation can refer to more than one individual and an individual may receive more than one disciplinary award.

Prisons

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with (a) the National Offender Management Service, (b) the Prison Service and (c) private sector operators regarding the role of the private sector in the delivery of penal services; and if he will make a statement.

Fiona Mactaggart: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has regular discussions with his officials in the Home Department, both within the National Offender Management Service and with the Prison Service, about the delivery of penal services. The role of the private sector may be raised at such discussions. The Home Secretary met with representatives of the private sector delivering penal services on 8 November 2005.

Prisons

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisons offer anger management courses; and how many offer psychiatric support.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Prison Service delivers a controlling anger and learning to manage it course (CALM) this is an accredited offending behaviour programme and is run in the 24 prisons listed in the table. Additionally, there are a number of prisons offering local non-accredited work on issues relating to anger management.
	There are mental health in-reach teams in 102 prisons this will soon be available across the prison estate.
	
		Prisons delivering CALM
		
			 Establishment Prog Male/female Category Area 
		
		
			 Aylesbury CALM Male YOI (closed) Thames Valley, Hants, Isle of Wight 
			 Blundeston CALM Male C Eastern 
			 Bristol CALM Male Local South West 
			 Camp Hill CALM Male C Thames Valley, Hants, Isle of Wight 
			 Cardiff CALM Male Local B Wales 
			 Dartmoor CALM Male C South West 
			 Garth CALM Male B training North West 
			 Gartree CALM Male B East Midlands 
			 Glen Parva CALM Male YOI (closed) East Midlands 
			 Featherstone CALM Male C West Midlands 
			 Hindley CALM Male YOI (closed) North West 
			 Kingston CALM Male B Thames Valley, Hants, Isle of Wight 
			 Long Lartin CALM Male A High Security 
			 Moorland Closed CALM Male YOI (closed) Yorks and Humberside 
			 Parkhurst CALM Male B training Thames Valley, Hants, Isle of Wight 
			 Pentonville CALM Male Local London 
			 Risley CALM Male C North West 
			 Stocken CALM Male C East Midlands 
			 Swaleside CALM Male B training Kent 
			 Swinfen Hall CALM Male YOI (closed) West Midlands 
			 The Mount CALM Male C Eastern 
			 Whatton CALM Male C East Midlands 
			 Whitemoor CALM Male A High Security 
			 Wolds(33) CALM Male Local Contracted Out 
		
	
	(33) Contracted Prison

Probation Services

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will bring forward legislation to devolve the commissioning of probation services.

Fiona Mactaggart: We intend to bring forward legislation to restructure the probation service as soon as parliamentary time allows. This will not devolve the commissioning of probation services. As set out in our consultation paper Restructuring Probation to Reduce Re-offending, we propose to alter the statutory framework to enable the regional offender managers, including the director of offender management service Wales, to commission services in their area from a range of providers

Probation Services

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the national probation service in Wales will conclude its restructuring process.

Fiona Mactaggart: Restructuring of the probation service is dependent on legislation and may be affected by other structural changes in the criminal justice system, for example to police force boundaries. We cannot at this stage be certain about when these processes will conclude.

Reoffending

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many adult offenders were reconvicted (a) in 1997 and (b) in 2005.

Fiona Mactaggart: Reoffending rates are published annually. The most recent data are published in 'Adult reoffending: results from the 2002 cohort'. Home Office Statistical Bulletin 25/05. This is available on the Home Office's website (http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/hosbpubs1.html). The report contains information on reconviction for the 1997 cohort and reoffending that results in conviction for the 2002 cohort.

Stolen Pets

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been prosecuted for holding a stolen pet as ransom in each year since 1997; and what punishments have been imposed.

Fiona Mactaggart: It is not possible, from the information held on the court proceedings database by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, to identify instances of holding a stolen pet as ransom.

Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what events are planned as part of the Tackling Drugs, Changing Lives strategy in (a) February and (b) March.

Paul Goggins: No events are planned to take place in February as part of the Tackling Drugs Changing Lives series of events. In March, events have been planned to take place in Portsmouth and Peterborough.

Terrorism

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what the cost is of the anti-terrorist poster campaign in London;
	(2)  for how long the anti-terrorist poster campaign in London will run;
	(3)  how many sites are covered by the anti-terrorist poster campaign in London.

Charles Clarke: The posters in question were produced by the Metropolitan Police Service, for which the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has operational responsibility. I will ensure that he receives a copy of your questions and ask him to reply direct to you.

Terrorism

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to extend the anti-terrorist poster campaign in London to other cities.

Charles Clarke: The posters in question were produced by the Metropolitan Police Service, for which the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has operational responsibility. I will ensure that he receives a copy of your questions and ask him to reply direct to you.

Terrorism

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for further poster campaigns once the one in London finishes.

Charles Clarke: The posters in question were produced by the Metropolitan Police Service, for which the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has operational responsibility. I will ensure that he receives a copy of your questions and ask him to reply direct to you.

Terrorism Act

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many stop and searches have been made under the Terrorism Act 2000, broken down by (a) ethnicity and (b) age group.

Charles Clarke: Statistics on the number of stop and searches under the Terrorism Act 2000 are published annually by the Home Office. The Home Office Report'Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2004' details the number of stop-searches under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000, by force and ethnicity. It is available via the following link: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/s95race04.pdf.
	Statistics do not include a breakdown of age groups because they are not collated in this way.

Terrorism Act

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many arrests have been made as a result of stop and searches under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Charles Clarke: The Home Office Statistical Bulletin'Arrests for Recorded Crime (Notifiable Offences) and the Operation of Certain Police Powers under PACE 200405', provides information on the number of stop-searches by force area, under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000. It also details resulting arrests under both the Terrorism Act and other legislation, and can be accessed via the following link http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb2105.pdf.

Traffic Offences

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) males and (b) females were (i) prosecuted and (ii) convicted in (A) Southend, (B) Essex, (C) the Metropolitan police area of London and (D) England and Wales of driving the wrong way down one-way streets in each of the last five years for which information is available.

Paul Goggins: The information requested has been taken from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform and is contained in the table.
	
		Number of males and females proceeded against and found guilty at all courts for offences under S36(1) Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1994 S.2(10) at South-east Essex petty sessional area (PSA), Essex and Metropolitan police force areas(PFA) and England and Wales, 200004 (34)
		
			 Offence description: Failing to comply with traffic light signals/signsoffences not detected by camera devices 
			 Principal statute: Road Traffic Act 1988 S.36 (1); Traffic Signs Regulations and General Regulations 1994 S.2(10) 
			 Area/Gender  2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 South East Essex PSA  
			 Males Proceeded against 5 1 3 3 2 
			  Found guilty 3 1 2 3 2 
			 Females Proceeded against 1 0 0 1 0 
			  Found guilty 1 0 0 1 0 
			 Essex PFA 2   
			 Males Proceeded against 115 81 39 n/a 17 
			  Found guilty 103 73 33 n/a 14 
			 Females Proceeded against 29 14 10 n/a 2 
			  Found guilty 27 14 9 n/a 0 
			 Metropolitan police force 3 
			 Males Proceeded against 1,503 1,161 1,311 1,441 1,811 
			  Found guilty 1,285 992 1,112 1,214 1,475 
			 Females Proceeded against 203 156 149 172 281 
			  Found guilty 187 135 133 152 249 
			 England and Wales  
			 Males Proceeded against 9,306 7,682 7,252 7,724 6,768 
			  Found guilty 8,247 6,735 6,462 6,791 5,827 
			 Females Proceeded against 1,525 1,246 1,228 1,408 1,122 
			  Found guilty 1,401 1,147 1,136 1,278 1,008 
		
	
	n/anot available
	(34) These data are provided on the principal offence basis
	(35) Data for Essex PFA for 2003 has not been provided as inconsistent with previous years
	(36) Includes City of London

Work Permits

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permit holders were granted permanent settlement in the UK in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: The latest published information on work permit holders granted permanent settlement in the UK in each of the last five years is shown in the annual Command Paper Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom, 2004. Copies are available from the Library of the House and on the stationery office website: http://www.official- documents.co.uk/document/cm66/6690/6690.asp.

Young Offenders

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many repeat youth offenders there were in (a) Romford and (b) Havering in each of the last five years.

Fiona Mactaggart: The data are not currently available on a sub-national basis. Information on the criminal histories of sentenced young offenders is published on an annual basis by the Home Office. The most recent data was published in chapter six (in particular, table 6.5) of Sentencing Statistics 2004 (HO Report 15/05) a copy of which has been placed in the Library or can be found at www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs05/hosb1505.pdf

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Data Sharing

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will place in the Library a copy of the advice and guidance issued by the Information Commissioner on (a) data-sharing between public sector databases and (b) the co-ordinated online register of electors.

Harriet Harman: I have placed in the Library a copy of the Information Commissioner's office's February 2001 publication, 'Data sharing between different local authority departments'. Any other advice issued by the Information Commissioner's office on this issue would likely to have been specific to particular databases and so would be held by the organisations responsible for those databases, rather than by my Department.
	In respect of the Co-ordinated Online Record of Electors specifically, I have placed in the Library the relevant parts of a letter of 7 July 2005 from the Information Commissioner's office, encapsulating their views on the Government's thinking on CORE at that time.

Departmental Staff

Bob Spink: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many of her Department's staff are paid on a performance-related basis.

Bridget Prentice: Staff who are employed on DCA terms and conditions are all subject to performance related pay. These include staff in the former Court Service agency (now part of Her Majesty's Courts Service), staff at the Public Guardianship Office and those staff who are part of the DCA and its Associated Offices. This is a total of 12,750 staff.
	On 1 April 2005, with the creation of Her Majesty's Courts Service as an executive agency of the Department, the DCA became responsible for all former employees of the Magistrates' Courts Service in England and Wales. This is a total of 12,067 staff. Those staff who were previously employed by the magistrates courts currently remain on their previous terms and conditions and are not paid on a performance-related basis. There is a DCA Pay and Grading Project currently under way. New pay, grading and benefit arrangements are due to be introduced for all DCA staff later this year. Performance related pay is likely to be a feature of the new system.

Legal Services Commission

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment the Legal Services Commission made of the contribution of the Specialist Support Project to the Legal Services Commission's corporate priorities;
	(2)  on what basis the Legal Services Commission assessed that funding for the Specialist Support Project was not sustainable.

Bridget Prentice: Specialist Support Contracts form part of the Legal Services Commission's (LSC) special projects budget, that was reviewed in the summer 2005 against a number of criteria. These included the LSC's Corporate Priorities, compatibility with the future vision for the Community Legal Service, and Value for Money effectiveness.
	The LSC has concluded that as specialist support services provide advice to other legal advisors and not directly to clients, this did not represent the most cost-effective approach to meet the increasing need for front-line advice.

Legal Services Commission

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  how her Department plans to replace the Specialist Support Project's expertise in dealing with the legal cases of vulnerable minority groups once Legal Services Commission funding ends;
	(2)  what estimate her Department has made of the future level of demand for specialist support legal services.

Bridget Prentice: The Legal Services Commission contracting arrangements include quality assessment such as Peer Review, File Assessment, and Quality Profiles. These all look to improve the quality of advice across front line providers, by indicating areas for improvement, allowing providers to build on and improve their legal competences and expertise, and reducing the need for specialist support services.
	An example is the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation scheme, mandatory from August 2005, which should ensure that clients get the quality of advice they expect.
	First tier organisations will continue to be able to seek specialist advice (e.g. counsel's opinion) in particularly complex circumstances.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Allotment Land

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the applications he has received in the last 12 months for the de-registration of allotment land; and if he will make a statement on his Department's policy on such applications.

Yvette Cooper: Under Section 8 of the Allotments Act 1925 the Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister's consent is required for the disposal of statutory allotments. 45 applications were received for disposal in the period from January 2005 to January 2006, which are set out in the table, of which six were granted approval for disposal.
	In determining such applications the following criteria are applied:
	Consent for disposal cannot be given unless certain criteria are met. The criteria are that:
	The allotment in question is not necessary and is surplus to requirements;
	Adequate provision will be made for displaced plot holders, or that such provision is not necessary or is impracticable;
	The number of people on the waiting list has been effectively taken into account;
	The authority has actively promoted and publicised the availability of allotment sites and has consulted the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners;
	and,
	The implications of disposal for other relevant policies, in particular development plan policies, have been taken into account.
	
		List of applications for disposal consent received between January 2005 and January 2006 of allotment land
		
			Regional Office   Local Authority and name of siteApplication dateDecision dateNumber of plotsSize Replacement plots provided? If yes, how many?New use of land  Disposal application refused (x) 
		
		
			 GO-NE Brittons Fields Allotments, Barnard Castle, County Durham-Teesdale DC 14 December 2004 Case is still live 16 0.126 ha Council is considering a replacement allotment site. Number of plots unknown as yet Not known. I have requested more details  
			   
			 GO-NE Brittons Fields, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham (Barnard Castle Town Council) 14 December 2004 16 May 2005 16 0.1053 hectares 0 Housing and car parking  
			   
			 GO-EAST Terrington St. Clements pc Land at Terington St. Clements 17 December 2004 1 February 2005  5.2 acres No relocation Change of use to farming land  
			   
			 GO-EAST Breckland DC Plots 6884 Shouldham Lane, Swaffham, Norfolk 1 April 2005 1 April 2005 16 plots 0.91 hectares All not used for use as grazing land  
			   
			 GO-EAST Chelmsford BC Melbourne allotments, Chelmsford 16 May 2005 20 June 2005 35 0.85 hectares Some of the allotment holders have been moved to new plots.   
			   
			 GO-EAST Broadland dc, Ramsey Road Allotments, Saint Ives 9 September 2005 9 November 2005  3.5 hectares  Change of use  
			   
			 GO-EAST Cambridge City Council, Land at Hulatt Way, Cambridge 16 February 2005 9 March 2005  0.1 hectares None Construction of 20 flats for elderly people n/a 
			   
			 GO-EAST Swaffham Town Council, Tumbler Hill, Norfolk 30 March 2005 5 May 2005 24 1.24 None To be used as a base for a charity who help people with learning difficulties develop independent living skills through gardening n/a 
			   
			 GO-EAST Balsham Parish Council, South Cambridgeshire DC 16 May 2005 5 December 2005  0.44 hectares allotment holders will be provided with cultivated allotments on the new site with hard standing for a shed The parish council are applying for permission to build 18 affordable houses in the village of Balsham Allowed 
			   
			 GO-EM Leicester City Council, (Land on the South Side of the Muston Garden Development), Washbrook Allotments, Welford Road, Leicester 19 January 2005 18 March 2005 1 0.0082ha No Land is required to amend boundary discrepancy with adjoining residential development No 
			   
			 GO-EM Leicester City Council, Wycombe Road Allotments, Wycombe Road, Leicester 12 May 2003 28 February 2005 87 2.606ha No The land is for residential development None 
			 GO-EM Broxtowe Borough Council, The Hassocks Beeston 25 February 2005 31 May 2005 62 1.6ha No The land will be used for a new fire station plus residential or industrial development No 
			 GO-EM Leicester City Council, Bonney Road Allotments , Bonney Road, Leicester 2 November 2004 31 May 2005 12 0.42ha No Open Space No 
			 GO-EM Leicester City Council, Bonney Road Allotments, Bonney Road, Leicester 2 November 2004 31 May 2005 16 0.53ha No The land is for residential development No 
			 GO-EM Leicester City Council, Groby Road Allotments, Groby Road, Leicester 13 May 2005 31 May 2005 100 3.81ha No The land will be used for development and open space No 
			 GO-EM Leicester City Council, Braunstone close Allotments, Braunstone Close, Leicester 2 November 2004 31 May 2005 42 1.11ha No Open Space No 
			 GO-EM Heanor and Loscoe Town Council, Hands Road Allotment, Hand Road, Heanor, Derbys 12 September 2004 26 May 2005 8 0.227ha No The land will be used for residential development. No 
			 GO-WM Birmingham City Council, Yardley Green Allotments 28 June 2004 15 February 2005 131 5.08 hec Nobut more revised plots made available Release of land at Yardley Green Allotments for development  
			 GOWM Walsall MBC, Herberts Park/Stanbury Avenue 14 October 2004 24 March 2005 unused land 0.28hec n/a Residential Development Statutory status being clarified 
			 GOWM Coventry City Council, Coundon Hall 19 October 2004 16 November 2004 133 3.4 hec n/a Community Woodland  
			 GOWM Rugby Borough Council, Addison Road 3 February 2005 14 April 2005 10 0.6 hec n/a Cemetery  
			 GOWM Malvern Hills District Council Elgar Avenue, Malvern 22 February 2005 15 July 2005 n/a n/a n/a n/a Refused 
			   
			 GOWM Herefordshire County District Council UA, Rockfield Allotment Site 22 February 2005 17 November 2005 n/a n/a n/a n/a  
			   
			 GOWM Redditch BC, Sillins Avenue and Farm Road, Redditch 8 March 2005 6 April 2005 n/a n/a n/a n/a Withdrawn 
			   
			 GOWM Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, Mill Gardens Allotments 12 May 2005 6 July 2005 n/a n/a n/a n/a Invalid 
			 GOWM Rugby Borough Council, Addison Road Allotments 31 May 2005 12 July 2005 None 0.1 hec n/a Access to new housing development  
			 GOWM Wolverhampton MBC, Parker Road 10 June 2005 4 July 2005 5 0.21 hec n/a Residential Development  
			 GOWM Walsall MBC, Berry / Bradshaw Allotments site 20 September 2005 24 October 2005 10 0.25 hec n/a Residential Development  
			 GOWM Wolverhampton MBC, Sandy Lane Allotments Site 21 September 2005 24 October 2005 Part of 1 1.43 hec n/a Road Widening  
			 GOWM Redditch Borough Council, 233 Bromsgrove Road 21 December 2005 Gardens  
			 GO-L LB Croydon, 166 Spa Hill 30 December 2004 23 March 2005  0.00188 ha  Sale Allowed 
			 GO-L LB Croydon, Midday sun allotments 29 November 2004 27 April 2005 Pending 1105sqm  Sale Allowed 
			 GO-L LB Harrow Land at Harrow Leisure Centre 12 September 2005 2 November 2005 n/k   Sale Allowed 
			 GO-L LB Harrow Kenmore Avenue 9 September 2005 02 November 2005Sale Allowed 
			 GO-L LB Bromley Southfield Allotment 21 January 2005 8 April 2005  0.4704 hectares  For use as open space Allowed 
			 GO-SE Newtown Allotments 2 November 2004 31 January 2005  
			 GO-SW Dorchester Town Council (West Dorset District) 2 December 2004 20 January 2005 11 2.023 sq metres 0 for council depot None 
			 GO-SW Bristol City Council, Marling Road, St George, Bristol 20 January 2005 11 February 2005 0 0.86 hectares 0 The land to be used as a riding school and stables None 
			 GO-SW Bristol City Council, Cotman Walk Allotments, Lockleaze, Bristol 23 February 2005 31 March 2005 0 0.638 hectares 0 doesn't say None 
			 GO-SW Bristol City Council, Stibbs Hill Allotments, St. George, Bristol 23 February 2005 31 March 2005 3 0.3571 hectares 1 plot of land offered on site 200m away doesn't say 1 plotholder 
			 GO-SW Bristol City Council, Goulston Road, Bishopsworth, Bristol 3 February 2004 25 April 2005 13(10 vacant remaining 3 plotholders will retain their plots) 2,958 sq yards None doesn't say None 
			   
			 GO-SW Bridgewater Town Council (Sedgemoor district), Bristol Road, No. 2 site, Bridgewater 20 April 2005 7 June 2005 None the site is vacant 0.78 hecta res None Lease to Bridgewater Carnival Committee None 
			 GO-SW Bristol City Council, Whitefield Road, Speedwell, Bristol 6 May 2005 21 June 2005 the site is vacant 0.126 hectares None doesn't say None 
			   
			 GO-SW Bristol City Council, Bedminster Down C, Bedminster Down Road, Bristol 14 July 2005 1 September 2005 the site is vacant 0.0675 hectares None The land will be leased to the owners of the adjoining house None 
			   
			 GO-SW Henstridge Parish Council (South Somerset District) 28 June 2005 site is vacant 1.48 hectares None the land will be used as a play area (0.2ha) and leasing of the remainder (1.28) [holding answer] to a local farmer for grazing. None

Bonfires

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what powers local authorities have to regulate day-time bonfires.

Ben Bradshaw: I have been asked to reply.
	Bonfires on domestic and business premises are regulated by local authorities under the statutory nuisance provisions in sections 79 to 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Local authorities have a duty to investigate complaints of smoke from premises that might be prejudicial to health or a nuisance, and if satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists or is likely to occur or recur an abatement notice must be served requiring the abatement of the nuisance or the restriction of its occurrence or recurrence. Failure to comply with the terms of an abatement notice will, upon summary conviction, result in a fine of up to 5,000 for domestic premises and 20,000 for business premises, in addition, section 2 of the Clean Air Act 1993 prohibits emissions of dark smoke from the open burning of material on industrial and trade premises. The Act provides a maximum fine of 20,000.

Councils (Discussions)

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has issued on the rights of councillors to initiate discussions on matters which may be opposed by the council executive.

Phil Woolas: The New Council Constitutions Guidance, issued by the Government to assist implementation of Part II of the Local Government Act 2000, gives advice on the role of members in the local authority decision-making process, including their role on overview and scrutiny committees.

Departmental Assets

David Davies: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list the items of departmental property worth over 100 that have been reported as (a) lost and (b) broken in the last 12 months.

Jim Fitzpatrick: No items of property belonging to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its agencies were reported as (a) lost and (b) broken in the last 12 months. However, two laptops previously reported as lost in my reply to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green on 30 June 2005, Official Report, column 1651W are now reported as stolen.
	This answer does not include property owned by Government Offices, who carry out functions on behalf of ten Government Departments.

Departmental Catering Budget

Andrew George: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what his Department's policy is on the procurement of fair trade produce for consumption on its premises.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The purchasing policy of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister reflects the Government's value for money policy and the EU procurement rules, which require the procurement of goods and services to be based on value for money and acquired by competition unless there are convincing reasons to the contrary, and the objectives of the office.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not specify a requirement of fair or ethically traded products, but does welcome fair trade options as a part of any contracts for the supply of catering or hospitality services.

Deprivation

Shona McIsaac: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the levels of deprivation were in each lower level super output area in (a) Cleethorpes constituency and (b) Great Grimsby constituency in the last year for which figures are available, in ascending order from the most deprived.

Yvette Cooper: The following table lists the ranks for each lower layer super output area (LLSOA) in (a) Cleethorpes constituency and (b) in Great Grimsby constituency, based on the Indices of Deprivation 2004, which is the last index available.
	In considering the data please note that these are national ranks, with the most deprived LLSOA in England being given a rank of one and the least deprived being ranked 32,482.
	
		
			 SOA code Local authority area Constituency IMD rank 
		
		
			 E01013137 North East Lincolnshire 002B Great Grimsby 64 
			 E01013136 North East Lincolnshire 002A Great Grimsby 158 
			 E01013139 North East Lincolnshire 002C Great Grimsby 315 
			 E01013208 North East Lincolnshire 019C Great Grimsby 377 
			 E01013212 North East Lincolnshire 015D Great Grimsby 454 
			 E01013138 North East Lincolnshire 006A Great Grimsby 770 
			 E01013205 North East Lincolnshire 019B Great Grimsby 796 
			 E01013210 North East Lincolnshire 019E Great Grimsby 1,182 
			 E01013165 North East Lincolnshire 011D Great Grimsby 1,407 
			 E01013142 North East Lincolnshire 002D Great Grimsby 1,429 
			 E01013232 North East Lincolnshire 009C Great Grimsby 1,574 
			 E01013221 North East Lincolnshire 003D Great Grimsby 1,927 
			 E01013140 North East Lincolnshire 006B Great Grimsby 2,125 
			 E01013209 North East Lincolnshire 019D Great Grimsby 2,211 
			 E01013144 North East Lincolnshire 004A Great Grimsby 2,235 
			 E01013159 North East Lincolnshire 011A Great Grimsby 2,501 
			 E01013181 North East Lincolnshire 016A Great Grimsby 2,518 
			 E01013162 North East Lincolnshire 011C Great Grimsby 2,765 
			 E01013222 North East Lincolnshire 003E Great Grimsby 2,796 
			 E01013218 North East Lincolnshire 003A Great Grimsby 3,148 
			 E01013141 North East Lincolnshire 006C Great Grimsby 3,450 
			 E01013220 North East Lincolnshire 003C Great Grimsby 4,042 
			 E01013206 North East Lincolnshire 015A Great Grimsby 4,116 
			 E01013219 North East Lincolnshire 003B Great Grimsby 4,253 
			 E01013204 North East Lincolnshire 019A Great Grimsby 4,659 
			 E01013187 North East Lincolnshire 008A Great Grimsby 4,761 
			 E01013164 North East Lincolnshire 012D Great Grimsby 4,863 
			 E01013161 North East Lincolnshire 011B Great Grimsby 5,416 
			 E01013229 North East Lincolnshire 013E Great Grimsby 5,754 
			 E01013147 North East Lincolnshire 009A Great Grimsby 5,773 
			 E01013184 North East Lincolnshire 016D Great Grimsby 6,336 
			 E01013143 North East Lincolnshire 006D Great Grimsby 6,602 
			 E01013233 North East Lincolnshire 008D Great Grimsby 8,789 
			 E01013231 North East Lincolnshire 008C Great Grimsby 9,333 
			 E01013207 North East Lincolnshire 015B Great Grimsby 10,073 
			 E01013158 North East Lincolnshire 012A Great Grimsby 10,338 
			 E01013192 North East Lincolnshire 021D Great Grimsby 10,756 
			 E01013146 North East Lincolnshire 004C Great Grimsby 11,573 
			 E01013211 North East Lincolnshire 015C Great Grimsby 12,044 
			 E01013227 North East Lincolnshire 013C Great Grimsby 12,847 
			 E01013183 North East Lincolnshire 016C Great Grimsby 12,996 
			 E01013188 North East Lincolnshire 008B Great Grimsby 14,196 
			 E01013160 North East Lincolnshire 012B Great Grimsby 14,526 
			 E01013230 North East Lincolnshire 009B Great Grimsby 14,979 
			 E01013234 North East Lincolnshire 009D Great Grimsby 15,570 
			 E01013163 North East Lincolnshire 012C Great Grimsby 17,280 
			 E01013228 North East Lincolnshire 013D Great Grimsby 18,660 
			 E01013145 North East Lincolnshire 004B Great Grimsby 19,190 
			 E01013185 North East Lincolnshire 016E Great Grimsby 19,910 
			 E01013182 North East Lincolnshire 016B Great Grimsby 20,644 
			 E01013186 North East Lincolnshire 016F Great Grimsby 21,240 
			 E01013189 North East Lincolnshire 021A Great Grimsby 22,417 
			 E01013150 North East Lincolnshire 013B Great Grimsby 22,481 
			 E01013149 North East Lincolnshire 013A Great Grimsby 23,649 
			 E01013194 North East Lincolnshire 021E Great Grimsby 23,960 
			 E01013193 North East Lincolnshire 022E Great Grimsby 24,164 
			 E01013190 North East Lincolnshire 021B Great Grimsby 24,494 
			 E01013148 North East Lincolnshire 004D Great Grimsby 26,936 
			 E01013191 North East Lincolnshire 021C Great Grimsby 27,444 
		
	
	
		
			 SOA code Local authority area Constituency IMD rank 
		
		
			 E01013177 North East Lincolnshire 001D Cleethorpes 1,934 
			 E01013199 North East Lincolnshire 010C Cleethorpes 1,956 
			 E01013203 North East Lincolnshire 005E Cleethorpes 1,963 
			 E01013201 North East Lincolnshire 005C Cleethorpes 2,348 
			 E01013129 North East Lincolnshire 017A Cleethorpes 2,546 
			 E01013174 North East Lincolnshire 001A Cleethorpes 2,725 
			 E01013128 North East Lincolnshire 010A Cleethorpes 3,600 
			 E01013196 North East Lincolnshire 005B Cleethorpes 3,751 
			 E01013131 North East Lincolnshire 014A Cleethorpes 5,811 
			 E01013195 North East Lincolnshire 005A Cleethorpes 5,909 
			 E01013130 North East Lincolnshire 018A Cleethorpes 6,590 
			 E01013202 North East Lincolnshire 005D Cleethorpes 7,041 
			 E01013135 North East Lincolnshire 018B Cleethorpes 7,619 
			 E01013198 North East Lincolnshire 010B Cleethorpes 7,931 
			 E01013179 North East Lincolnshire 001F Cleethorpes 8,329 
			 E01013133 North East Lincolnshire 014C Cleethorpes 8,333 
			 E01013259 North Lincolnshire 001F Cleethorpes 8,647 
			 E01013254 North Lincolnshire 001A Cleethorpes 9,583 
			 E01013258 North Lincolnshire 001E Cleethorpes 10,069 
			 E01013134 North East Lincolnshire 014D Cleethorpes 10,547 
			 E01013197 North East Lincolnshire 012E Cleethorpes 11,627 
			 E01013303 North Lincolnshire 002A Cleethorpes 12,071 
			 E01013308 North Lincolnshire 004C Cleethorpes 12,743 
			 E01013213 North East Lincolnshire 023A Cleethorpes 12,924 
			 E01013156 North East Lincolnshire 018D Cleethorpes 13,657 
			 E01013180 North East Lincolnshire 001G Cleethorpes 13,757 
			 E01013167 North East Lincolnshire 020D Cleethorpes 14,333 
			 E01013169 North East Lincolnshire 020E Cleethorpes 14,599 
			 E01013132 North East Lincolnshire 014B Cleethorpes 14,619 
			 E01013225 North East Lincolnshire 023F Cleethorpes 15,379 
			 E01013255 North Lincolnshire 001B Cleethorpes 15,472 
			 E01013176 North East Lincolnshire 001C Cleethorpes 16,179 
			 E01013306 North Lincolnshire 004B Cleethorpes 16,948 
			 E01013178 North East Lincolnshire 001E Cleethorpes 17,087 
			 E01013200 North East Lincolnshire 010D Cleethorpes 17,297 
			 E01013153 North East Lincolnshire 020A Cleethorpes 17,643 
			 E01013309 North Lincolnshire 004D Cleethorpes 17,993 
			 E01013256 North Lincolnshire 001C Cleethorpes 18,657 
			 E01013175 North East Lincolnshire 001B Cleethorpes 18,677 
			 E01013173 North East Lincolnshire 007A Cleethorpes 18,957 
			 E01013307 North Lincolnshire 002D Cleethorpes 19,441 
			 E01013224 North East Lincolnshire 007C Cleethorpes 19,722 
			 E01013166 North East Lincolnshire 020C Cleethorpes 19,904 
			 E01013305 North Lincolnshire 002C Cleethorpes 20,634 
			 E01013170 North East Lincolnshire 022B Cleethorpes 21,329 
			 E01013304 North Lincolnshire 002B Cleethorpes 21,,642 
			 E01013215 North East Lincolnshire 023C Cleethorpes 21,892 
			 E01013226 North East Lincolnshire 007D Cleethorpes 22,858 
			 E01013168 North East Lincolnshire 022A Cleethorpes 22,870 
			 E01013151 North East Lincolnshire 017B Cleethorpes 23,490 
			 E01013152 North East Lincolnshire 017C Cleethorpes 24,030 
			 E01013172 North East Lincolnshire 022D Cleethorpes 24,300 
			 E01013257 North Lincolnshire 001D Cleethorpes 24,343 
			 E01013214 North East Lincolnshire 023B Cleethorpes 24,459 
			 E01013217 North East Lincolnshire 023E Cleethorpes 25,613 
			 E01013154 North East Lincolnshire 018C Cleethorpes 25,797 
			 E01013216 North East Lincolnshire 023D Cleethorpes 25,981 
			 E01013155 North East Lincolnshire 017D Cleethorpes 27,397 
			 E01013171 North East Lincolnshire 022C Cleethorpes 28,611 
			 E01013223 North East Lincolnshire 007B Cleethorpes 28,970 
			 E01013157 North East Lincolnshire 020B Cleethorpes 29,914

Home Information Packs

David Kidney: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he plans to publish a detailed implementation plan for the introduction of home information packs.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is discussing the main elements of the implementation plan with stakeholders and expect to share the details with them shortly.

Homelessness

Sarah Teather: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 5 July 2005, Official Report, column 307W, on homelessness, when he expects to publish the code of guidance.

Yvette Cooper: A revised Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities is due to be published in the next few months.

Housing

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of right-to-buy sales in West Lancashire since 1980 were (a) bed-sit, (b) one-bed, (c) two-bed, (d) three-bed and (e) four or more bedrooms.

Yvette Cooper: Information on the number of bedrooms for properties sold through the right to buy scheme is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding local authority housing in (a) England and (b) Tamworth constituency received in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available, broken down by source.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Housing

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to ensure that tenants of arm's length management organisations are able to decide their future tenancy arrangements when the current contracts expire; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: Tenants should be fully consulted on all significant changes to the management of their homes, as they were on decisions to set up an arm's length management organisation.

Housing

Paul Truswell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding local authority housing in (a) England and (b) Leeds has received in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available, broken down by source.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is currently not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Housing

Paul Truswell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps he is taking to increase the volume of affordable social housing provided by (a) local authorities, (b) the not-for-profit sector and (c) the private sector.

Yvette Cooper: The Government set a target of providing 75,000 social rented homes from 200506 to 200708, that is, an additional 10,000 homes, a 50 per cent. increase on 200405.
	Of these it is estimated around 3,000 will be provided through local authorities and at least 60,000 through registered social landlords or other developers. The Government have announced in the Barker review to explore new innovative ways for local councils to support more social house building in future.
	The Government have already widened the availability of funding through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing programme to include non-registered social landlords.

Housing

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many council houses in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster have been brought up to the Decent Homes Standard; and how many remain to be brought up to the standard.

Yvette Cooper: The information is as follows.
	(a) Barnsley has reported that their number of non-decent dwellings has decreased from 8,437 in April 2003 to 5,458 in April 2005. Barnsley did not supply the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with non-decent estimates prior to April 2003.
	(b) In 2002 Doncaster reported that their number of non-decent dwellings as of April 2001 was 8,858. Their number of non-decent dwellings in 2005 was reported at 13,324.
	This reported increase is due to Doncaster revising their figures after a stock condition survey and a validation of stock condition data in preparation for an option appraisal, and not necessarily a physical increase in their number of non-decent dwellings.
	Source:
	Business Plan Annual Monitoring returns.

Housing

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of council housing stock in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster has been sold under the right to buy scheme since 1980.

Yvette Cooper: The proportion of council housing stock in Barnsley and Doncaster that has been sold under the right to buy scheme since its introduction in 1980 can be found on the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's website at:
	http://www.odpm.gov.uk/embedded_object.asp?id=l156373

Housing

Greg Hands: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many people in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham are waiting to be found suitable accommodation by the local authority while living in accommodation judged unacceptable by social services.

Yvette Cooper: The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Leisure Facilities Transfer (West Lancashire)

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the effect of the transfer of leisure facilities in West Lancashire to newly-formed charitable trusts on their access to capital for refurbishment.

Richard Caborn: I have been asked to reply.
	Specific information on the transfer of ownership of leisure centres from local authorities to newly-formed charitable trusts is not centrally collated. However, information from the Leisure Data Base Company suggests that approximately one-fifth of public leisure facilities in England are provided through trusts.
	My Department recognises the importance of this issue in ensuring the continued sustainability of publicly provided sports facilities. The Audit Commission is currently undertaking a study into the different types of management arrangements available to local authorities for running these services and how they approach the task of choosing the option best suited to local needs. This is expected to include a consideration of the potential implications of each of these options, including for charitable trusts.
	I will ensure a copy of the study is placed in the House Libraries once it is published.

Local Authority Expenditure

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much local authorities have spent on gas in each year between 1997 and 2005.

Phil Woolas: Estimates for how much local authorities have spent on gas in each year between 1997 and 2005 have been tabled as follows. From 200203 onwards, figures include other (non-electricity) energy costs (eg solid fuel and fuel oil) as well as gas.
	
		
			  000 
		
		
			 199899 114,439 
			 19992000 112,727 
			 200001 121,717 
			 200102 151,698 
			 200203 201,290 
			 200304 187,822 
			 200405 222,481 
		
	
	Source:
	Subjective Analysis Returns (SAR) submitted by local authorities to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
	Figures prior to 199899 were not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The SAR is a sample survey and collects information from 121 authorities in England. The data have been grossed up to provide estimates for England as a whole.
	Comparisons across years may not be valid due to changes in responsibilities and the method of reporting the information. In particular, the data for 199899 to 200203 are presented on a non-Financial Reporting Standard 17 (FRS17) basis while the data for 200304 and 200405 are presented on a FRS17 basis. Hence, figures for different years may not be directly comparable.

Millennium Dome (Redevelopment)

Eric Pickles: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what responsibilities he has had for the millennium dome in each year since his appointment as Deputy Prime Minister.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Deputy Prime Minister inherited responsibility for the millennium dome in May 2002 when the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was created as a Department in its own right. Prior to that responsibility for the dome rested with the former Department for Transport, local government and the regions.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister sponsors English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency, which has owned the dome site since 1997 and was charged with securing a long term use for the millennium dome structure and regeneration of associated land on the Greenwich peninsula.
	English Partnerships have entered into legally binding contracts with Meridian Delta Ltd (MDL), a consortium consisting of Lend Lease and Quintain Estates and Development Plc, and Anschutz Entertainment Group (Anschutz), for the redevelopment of the dome and the regeneration of approximately 190 acres of land on the Greenwich peninsula.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister continues to oversee and monitor English Partnerships' role in securing the financial returns from the deal and in working with MDL and Anschutz in the redevelopment of the millennium dome and associated land to ensure successful delivery of the regeneration of the area. English Partnerships also continues to have responsibility for certain aspects of the dome's maintenance, security and insurance until Anschutz completes the construction of the arena and takes on full responsibility for the dome structure and its immediate surroundings.

Supporting People

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will put mechanisms in place to ensure that the calculation of the needs-based formulae for supporting people grants will not include a ceiling; and that the implementation of the increase grant will take effect in full from April 2007.

Phil Woolas: Through Creating Sustainable Communities: Supporting Independence, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently consulting on whether, and if so how, to take forward any changes to the basis for allocating supporting people grants to local authorities. In parallel, the ODPM is also consulting on a technical model which provides one option for an alternative approach to allocations. Consultation on both runs until 28 February 2006, and decisions will be taken once we have had the opportunity to consider all representations received.
	The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has, however, already announced guaranteed minimum supporting people grant allocations for 200708. These have been set on the basis of each authority receiving at least 95 per cent. of their grant for 200607. The ODPM will determine and confirm how to allocate the remainder of the funding following and in the light of the current consultation. However, the announcement of minimum allocations means that any change to the basis for grant distribution cannot be implemented in full from April 2007.

TREASURY

Departmental Expenditure

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much was spent by his Department on (a) gas and (b) electricity in 200405.

Ivan Lewis: The amounts spent on (a) gas and (b) electricity consumed in 1 Horse Guards Road during 200405 were (a) 3,566 and (b) 332,130.

Free Bus Travel

Nick Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment he made of the method of distributing the sum of money allocated to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to cover the cost of the free bus travel policy announced in the Budget when deciding the total sum of money to be applied to the policy;
	(2)  how the sum of money allocated to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to cover the cost of the free bus travel policy announced in the Budget was calculated;
	(3)  what representations he has received concerning the calculation of the sum of money allocated to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to cover the cost of the free bus travel policy announced in the Budget.

Des Browne: The Government are providing an extra 350 million for 200607 through the Formula Grant system which will be sufficient to fund the cost to local authorities, as set out in Budget 2005. Local authorities were fully consulted by The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the distribution by a new formula and received very few representations against. Decisions on the distribution of local government grant for 200607 and 200708 were made as part of the local government finance settlement, approved by this house on 6 February 2006.
	The 350 million included reimbursement to operators for lost income, additional costs due to the increase in generated users, the reimbursement of authorities already offering free off-peak local bus travel, and inflation.
	A small number of representations have been received regarding the Budget 2005 announcement of an increase in concessionary fares. However, these have concentrated on the method of distribution as opposed to the calculation of the 350 million allocated.

Parliamentary Questions

Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of the written parliamentary questions addressed to him he has answered personally in each year since he took up his post.

Ivan Lewis: Written questions are usually answered by the Minister with day to day responsibility for the issue concerned.

Post Office

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what services to the public which are provided by his Department are available from the post office.

Ivan Lewis: Customers can pay direct taxes (including national insurance contributions) at the post office. They can also buy National Savings and Investment products and 5 Royal Mint commemorative coins.

Revenue and Customs

Greg Knight: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and its predecessors spent on (a) television and (b) radio advertising in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what the advertising campaigns were for in each case.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 24 January 2006
	The following table details media spend figures, by campaign, excluding VAT and all fees, for (a) television and (b) radio advertising from 2000 to 2005.
	
		
		
			  TV Radio 
		
		
			 200405   
			 HMCE Fuel Fraud 200405  125,078 
			 Total  125,078 
			
			 Tax Credits 200405 2,302,241 930,427 
			 Self Assessment 200405 3,138,961 1,025,965 
			 PAYE 200405  84,788 
			 Child Trust Fund 200405 1,112,299 334,528 
			 Share Fishermen 200405  40,443 
			 Total 6,553,501 2,416,151 
			
			 Total 6,553,501 2,541,229 
			
			 200304   
			 Tax Credits 200304 2,739,999 950,958 
			 Self Assessment 200304 3,313,116 881,013 
			 Share Fisherman 200304  47,758 
			 Total 6,053,115 1,879,729 
			
			 200203   
			 HM Customs  Excise 200203  74,454 
			 Total  74,454 
			   
			 Self Assessment 200203 3,145,572 667,501 
			 New Tax Credits 200203 6,705,001 732,960 
			 Total 9,850,573 1,400,461 
			 200102   
			 HM Customs  Excise 200102  184,908 
			 HM Customs  Excise 200102 (New Terms)  8,000 
			 Total  192,908 
			
			 Self Assessment 200102 2,263,000 397,836 
			 Working Family Tax Credits 200102  489,934 
			 Self Assessment 200102 (New terms) 487,900 199,438 
			 PAYE Online 200102 (New Terms)  324,966 
			 Disabled Persons Tax Credit (New Terms)  559,170 
			 Total 2,750,900 1,971,344

Tax Credits

David Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit cases have been with the (a) Compliance Co-ordination Unit and (b) Field Force in each month since 200304.

Dawn Primarolo: Compliance activity for this work area is no longer organised in the teams referred to as (a) Compliance Co-ordination Unit and (b) Field Force. This means that the Department is unable to supply the information requested.

Tax Credits

Roger Gale: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what research was conducted in preparing the Government news network press release issued on 1 February on the tax credit system.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 13 February 2006
	The press release was based on published statistics, administrative data on Tax Credits, and calculations by HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs.

Tax Credits

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much in total has been overpaid in tax credits since they were introduced.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 13 February 2006
	Estimates for 200304 of the numbers of in-work families with tax credits awards, including information on overpayments and underpayments, based on final family circumstances and incomes for 200304 are published in Child and Working Tax Credits. Finalised Awards. 200304. This publication and provisional estimates for the number of in-work families with tax credit awards as at selected dates in 200405 are available on the HMRC website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtc-quarterly-stats.htm
	Estimates of numbers and values of overpayments or underpayments for 200405 awards at 5 April 2005 will be published in May 2006.

Tax Credits

Ian Davidson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the stages of the working tax credit system are from application to payment; how many claims have been stopped as fraudulent or possibly fraudulent cases at each stage since the scheme began; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: All claims for tax credits are subjected to risk assessment and key personal details are matched against other HMRC frameworks before any payments are made. I refer the hon. Gentlemen to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws) on 10 January 2006, Official Report, column 558W.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Asbestos

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will extend the Health and Safety Executive's consultation period on the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

Anne McGuire: The consultation on the proposed changes to the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 is being undertaken by the Health and Safety Commission. The length of the consultation period is therefore a matter for the Commission, not Ministers. I understand that this was set by the Commission in its meeting of 11 October 2005. I am informed by the HSC that key stakeholders have now submitted their views.

Asbestos

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what factors the Health and Safety Executive took into account when setting the deadline for the consultation on the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety Commission, rather than the Health and Safety Executive, set the timetable for consultation on proposed amendments to the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 and decided that the time allowed was an adequate period for people to properly consider the document and prepare their responses. This is in line with the 12-week minimum required by the Cabinet Office's code of practice on consultation. The Health and Safety Executive had also previously discussed the issues with key stakeholders.

Benefit Payment Methods

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many payments of (a) state pension, (b) pension credit and (c) other benefits are made each week to (i) Post Office card accounts, (ii) basic bank accounts and (iii) other bank accounts in (1) the UK, (2) Argyll and Bute constituency and (3) each region.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 6 February 2006
	The information is not available in the format requested. The table below shows the number of DWP pensions and benefits being paid into (i) Post Office card accounts and (ii) bank/building society accounts as at December 2005.
	
		
			  Type of account 
			  Post Office card account Bank account 
		
		
			 Total state retirement pension 1,886,500 7,459,800 
			 Total pension credit 936,700 1,644,500 
			 Total other benefits 1,685,600 5,956,400 
		
	
	
		
			 Region State retirement pension Pension credit Other benefits 
		
		
			 (i) Post Office card account  
			 Argyle and Bute 2,900 1,300 1,600 
			 North East 109,200 66,500 127,100 
			 North West 252,000 133,000 274,200 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 194,200 97,600 166,800 
			 East Midlands 149,500 65,500 106,700 
			 West Midlands 194,600 104,600 165,000 
			 East of England 153,900 66,300 89,400 
			 London 123,500 85,700 194,600 
			 South East 182,400 73,300 112,400 
			 South West 181,000 68,400 97,100 
			 Wales 152,300 67,800 146,500 
			 Scotland (excluding Argyle and Bute) 191,000 106,700 204,200 
			 
			 (ii) Bank accounts
			 Argyle and Bute 10,200 2,300 6,600 
			 North East 289,300 83,900 327,900 
			 North West 827,800 207,700 827,200 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 606,500 150,300 536,400 
			 East Midlands 551,300 120,700 433,500 
			 West Midlands 668,400 162,200 580,900 
			 East of England 805,200 147,800 457,700 
			 London 710,600 189,300 757,100 
			 South East 1,216,000 194,500 620,600 
			 South West 796,800 143,300 426,400 
			 Wales 356,200 86,300 395,000 
			 Scotland (excluding Argyle and Bute) 621,500 156,200 587,100 
		
	
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and relate to payment accounts in Great Britain.
	Pensions and benefits are paid at different frequencies. Most are paid weekly.
	Figures refer to benefit payment accounts. People in receipt of more than one benefit/pension will be counted for each separate benefit/pension in payment. People who have their benefit/pension combined and paid at the same time will only be counted through the paying benefit.

Benefits

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the age bands (a) 18 to 25, (b) 25 to 40, (c) 40 to 55 and (d) 55 to 65 years were in receipt of (i) disability allowance, (ii) invalid care allowance, (iii) carers allowance, (iv) incapacity benefit and (v) other health-related benefit in (A) absolute numbers and (B) as a percentage of the total population of the Crosby constituency in each year between 2000 and 2005.

Anne McGuire: I have asked the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran to write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Terry Moran
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in the age bands (a) 18 to 25 (b) 25 to 40 (c) 40 to 55 and (d) 55 to 65 years were in receipt of (i) disability allowance (ii) invalid care allowance (iii) carers allowance (iv) incapacity benefit and (v) other health-related benefit in (A) absolute numbers and (B) as a percentage of the total population of the Crosby constituency in each of the years 2000 to 2005.
	The Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire MP, promised you a substantive reply from the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service.
	The information available is in the attached annexes.
	I hope this is helpful.
	Annex 1
	Disability living allowance (DLA)
	
		Number of DLA claimants in the parliamentary constituency of Crosby, as at May of each year from 2000 to 2005 -- Thousands
		
			 Age of claimant 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 1824 *0.1 *0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 2539 *0.4 *0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 
			 4054 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.9 
			 5565 0.6 0.7 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.2 
			 All 1.8 2.0 2.5 2.6 2.6 2.6 
		
	
	
		Number of DLA claimants in the Government office region of the north west, as at May of each year from 2000 to 2005 -- Thousands
		
			 Age of claimant 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 1824 9.4 10.5 11.0 12.0 12.9 13.6 
			 2539 43.4 43.5 45.6 46.7 47.4 47.5 
			 4054 85.3 88.7 89.7 92.5 94.8 96.0 
			 5565 109.3 112.4 115.3 119.3 121.6 122.0 
			 All 247.4 255.2 261.6 270.5 276.7 279.2 
		
	
	
		DLA claimants in the Government office region of the north west, as at May of each year from 2000 to 2005, as percentage of the relevant population -- Percentage
		
			 Age of claimant 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 1824 1.7 1.9 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 
			 2539 3.0 3.0 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 
			 4054 6.3 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 
			 5565 13.9 14.1 13.9 14.0 14.0 14.0 
			 All 6.0 6.1 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Population estimates are not available at parliamentary constituency level. Figures and percentages at GOR level are provided instead.
	2. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.
	3. Parliamentary constituencies and GORs have been allocated using the ONS postcode directory.
	4. Percentages have been calculated using the relevant ONS mid year population estimates.
	5. Figures pre 2002 have been based on the 5 per cent. QSE data and are therefore subject to sampling variation. Those below 500 are subject to a high degree of sampling error and are marked '*'.
	Definitions and conventions: - Nil or Negligible; . Not applicable; Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and expressed in thousands. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study for totals and 5% samples for detail/long time series.
	Annexe 2
	Carer's allowance (CA) previously invalid care allowance (ICA)
	
		Number of CA claimants in the parliamentary constituency of Crosby, as at May(37) of each year from 2002 to 2005 -- Thousands
		
			 Age of claimant 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 1824 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 
			 2539 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 
			 4054 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 
			 5565 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 All 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 
		
	
	
		Number of CA claimants in the Government office region of the north west, as at May(37) of each year from 2002 to 2005 -- Thousands
		
			 Age of claimant 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 1824 2.4 2.6 2.7 2.8 
			 2539 18.2 18.5 18.4 18.4 
			 4054 23.9 24.6 24.7 25.4 
			 5565 13.1 13.9 14.2 14.6 
			 All 57.6 59.5 60.1 61.1 
		
	
	
		Number of CA claimants in the Government office region of the north west, as at May(37)of each year from 2000 to 2005, as percentage of the relevant population -- Percentage
		
			 Age of claimant 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 1824 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 
			 2539 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3 
			 4054 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 
			 5565 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 
			 All 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.4 
		
	
	(37) 2002 figures as at June 2002.
	Notes:
	1. Population estimates are not available at parliamentary constituency level. Figures and percentages at GOR level are provided instead.
	2. The pre 2003 figures shown have been calculated using the information from the 'old' CA 100 per cent. data source. For carer's allowance the earliest WPLS dataset is August 2003.
	3. Only cases in payment are shown (those with underlying entitlement but not actually receiving payment have been excluded).
	4. Parliamentary constituencies and GORs have been allocated using the ONS postcode directory.
	5. Percentages have been calculated using the relevant ONS mid year population estimates.
	Definitions and conventions:- Nil or Negligible; . Not applicable; Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and expressed in thousands. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	Source: DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study for totals and 100 per cent. samples for detail.
	Annexe 3
	Incapacity benefit (IB)/ severe disablement allowance (SDA)
	
		IB/SDA claimants caseloads and percentage of the population, north west GOR and Crosby parliamentary constituency: May 2000 to 2005
		
			  May 2000 May 2001 May 2002 
			  Thousands Percentage(38) Thousands Percentage(38) Thousands Percentage(38) 
		
		
			 North West GOR  
			 All ages 448.0 6.6 454.2 6.7 449.6 6.7 
			 Unknown (38) (38) (38) (38) (38) (38) 
			 Under 18 1.9 (38) 1.8 (38) 1.6 (38) 
			 18 to 24 23.8 0.4 24.6 0.4 24.3 0.4 
			 25 to 39 103.7 1.5 105.9 1.6 103.6 1.5 
			 40 to 54 169.0 2.5 173.2 2.6 170.2 2.5 
			 55 to 65 146.6 2.2 145.5 2.2 146.5 2.2 
			 66 and over 3.1 (38) 3.2 (38) 3.4 (38) 
			
			 All ages 3.8 (39) 3.7 (39) 3.7 (39) 
			 Under 18 (38) (39) (38) (39) (38) (39) 
			 18 to 24 0.1 (39) 0.1 (39) 0.1 (39) 
			 25 to 39 0.8 (39) 0.7 (39) 0.7 (39) 
			 40 to 54 1.4 (39) 1.4 (39) 1.4 (39) 
			 55 to 65 1.4 (39) 1.4 (39) 1.4 (39) 
			 66 and over (38) (39) (38) (39) (38) (39) 
		
	
	
		
			  May 2000 May 2001 May 2002 
			  Thousands Percentage1 Thousands Percentage1 Thousands Percentage1 
		
		
			 North West GOR  
			 All ages 447.5 6.6 442.1 6.5 432.4 6.3 
			 Unknown (38) (38) (38) (38) (38) (38) 
			 Under 18 1.5 (38) 1.6 (38) 1.2 (38) 
			 18 to 24 25.1 0.4 24.7 0.4 23.1 0.3 
			 25 to 39 102.5 1.5 100.6 1.5 97.0 1.4 
			 40 to 54 169.5 2.5 168.2 2.5 166.5 2.4 
			 55 to 65 145.4 2.1 143.5 2.1 140.8 2.1 
			 66  over 3.5 0.1 3.6 0.1 3.8 0.1 
			
			 Crosby Parliamentary Constituency 
			 All ages 3.7 (39) 3.6 (39) 3.5 (39) 
			 Under 18 (38) (39) (38) (39) (38) (39) 
			 18 to 24 0.1 (39) 0.2 (39) 0.2 (39) 
			 25 to 39 0.7 (39) 0.7 (39) 0.7 (39) 
			 40 to 54 1.4 (39) 1.4 (39) 1.4 (39) 
			 55 to 65 1.3 (39) 1.3 (39) 1.3 (39) 
			 66  over (38) (39) (38) (39) (38) (39) 
		
	
	(38) North west GOR total populations have been used to calculate percentages of the population. Crosby parliamentary constituency population figures are not available.
	(39) Denotes nil or negligible.
	(40) Denotes not applicable.
	Notes:
	1. Population estimates are not available at parliamentary constituency level. Figures and percentages at GOR level are provided instead.
	2. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and shown in thousands. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place
	3. 'Claimant' figures include all IB/SDA claimants (including IB credits only cases).
	4. There are a very small number of cases each year (less than 50) where the claimant age is unknown.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data. Office for National Statistics Mid-2000 to 2004 population data for Great Britain and North West GOR.
	Annexe 4
	Other health-related benefits
	
		People receiving industrial injuries disablement benefit (IIDB) in the parliamentary constituency of Crosby -- Thousands
		
			  As at 1 April As at 31 March(41) 
			 Age of claimant 2000(42) 2001(42) 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 1824   
			 2539   20 20 15 15 
			 4054 0.1 0.1 120 105 100 95 
			 5565 0.1 0.1 120 125 120 130 
		
	
	
		People receiving IIDB by north west Government office region, numbers and as a -- percentage of relevant populationThousands
		
			 Age of As at 1 April As at 31 March(41) 
			 claimant 2002(42) Percentage 2001(42) Percentage 2002 Percentage 
		
		
			 1824 0.2 0.04 0.2 0.04 150 0.03 
			 2539 5.1 0.35 4.6 0.32 4,215 0.30 
			 4054 12.9 0.95 12.8 0.94 11 ,830 0.87 
			 5565 13.0 1.65 12.8 1.61 12,795 1.55 
		
	
	
		Thousands
		
			  As at 31 March(41) 
			  2003 Percentage 2004 Percentage 2005 Percentage 
		
		
			 1824 130 0.02 110 0.02 85 0.01 
			 2539 3,910 0.28 3,540 0.26 3,180 0.23 
			 4054 11,590 0.84 11,255 0.81 11,055 0.80 
			 5565 12,980 1.52 12,905 1.49 12,910 1.49 
		
	
	(41) Figures are from a 100 per cent. sample from the Industrial Injuries Computer System (IICS) and are rounded to the nearest 5.
	(42) Figures are from a 10 per cent. sample from clerical forms received from the Disablement Benefit Offices and are rounded to the nearest 100.
	Note:
	Population estimates are not available at parliamentary constituency level. Figures and percentages at GOR level are provided instead.
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics mid year population estimates

Citygate Public Affairs

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what meetings the Department has held with Citygate Public Affairs Ltd. since July.

Anne McGuire: The Department does not maintain a central list of such contacts. Ministers and civil servants, including special advisers meet many people as part of the process of policy development and business delivery. All such contacts are conducted in accordance with the requirements of the Ministerial Code, Civil Service Code, Code of Conduct for Special Advisers and Guidance for civil servants on contacts with lobbyists and people outside Government.

Compulsory Redundancies (Benefit Offices)

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on negotiations with the Public and Commercial Services Union on compulsory redundancies for jobcentre and benefit office workers.

Anne McGuire: In November 2004 the Department reached a negotiated agreement with the PCS, FDA and Prospect trade unions. This agreement states that staff would only be declared compulsorily redundant after full and meaningful consultation with trade unions has taken place. The agreement allows for consultation to be undertaken at the appropriate level within the organisation and with a view to reaching agreement about ways to avoid, minimise or mitigate compulsory redundancy. DWP Management and the unions agreed to work constructively together to seek to avoid compulsory redundancies through redeployment and voluntary measures.
	In accordance with the agreement, a forum of management and departmental trade unions has met monthly to review jointly the operation of the agreement. At the latest joint forum the unions agreed that the agreement was holding up well in the majority of government office regions. To date the Department has reduced staffing by just under 15,000 with only one compulsory redundancy, which involved exceptional circumstances. The Department will continue to work with its trade unions to avoid compulsory redundancy wherever possible.

Credit and Benefit Overpayments

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many individual credit and benefit overpayment cases have been referred to his Department by hon. Members since 2001.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 11 January 2006
	Records prior to 2003 are no longer available.
	Details of individual pension credit and benefit overpayment cases referred to the Department by hon. Members for the years 2003 to 2005 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2003 151 
			 2004 220 
			 2005 406

Customer Management System

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the estimated cost is of repairing the Customer Management System in his Department.

Margaret Hodge: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. She will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from Lesley Strathie
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply to your question asking what the estimated cost is of repairing the Customer Management System in his Department. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The Customer Management System (CMS) is performing to agreed service levels so there is no repair cost as such. However, like all DWP Information Technology systems, CMS has a programme of future releases that will update and improve the system to reflect changing legislative and business requirements.

Debt Manager Software

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much debt has been written off as a result of problems with the new IT software package debt manager.

James Plaskitt: No debt has been written off.

Departmental Advertising Campaigns

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the public information advertising campaigns run by his Department in the past 12 months; and how much his Department spent on (a) newspapers and (b) television advertising for those campaigns.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The information is held in financial years and the following table provides the figures for the current financial year to date.
	
		Department for Work and Pensions National Public Advertising Information Campaigns April 2005 to date -- 000
		
			  Newspaper advertising expenditure TV advertising expenditure 
		
		
			 Targeting Benefit Fraud 556 1,446 
			 Pension Credit 109 0 
			 State Pension Deferral 275 0 
			 State Second Pension 786 0 
			 Winter Fuel Payments 918 0 
			 Images of Disability 0 0 
			 National Sector Campaign 0 0 
			 Age Partnership Group 0 0 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
	2. All national advertising campaigns are listed together with the newspaper and television advertising expenditure relating to those campaigns. National advertising campaigns that do not include either newspaper or television advertising are also listed.
	3. The information is not available in the format requested and has therefore been provided for the current financial year only.
	4. All figures are exclusive of VAT.

Departmental Assets

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the items of departmental property worth over 100 that have been reported as (a) lost and (b) broken in the last 12 months.

James Plaskitt: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) Items of departmental property worth over 100 reported as lost from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2005 are as follows:
	
		
			 Asset description CCNBV () 
		
		
			 NEC TFT Monitor 118.52 
			 Dell Latitude C600 Laptop 367.61 
			 NEC Multisync Monitor LCD1550X 454.91 
			 Dell Latitude C600 Laptop 460.67 
			 Compaq EVO N600C Laptop 482.83 
			 NEC Powerpoint Projector 909.51 
			 NEC Powermate Desktop PC 446.70 
			 Compaq EVO N600C PC 655.27 
		
	
	(b) The Department does not hold details of property that has been broken.

Departmental Expenditure

Pete Wishart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the annual expenditure on vehicles by (a) his Department and (b) each (i) non-departmental public body, (ii) executive agency and (iii) other public body for which he is responsible in (A) Scotland, (B) Wales, (C) each of the English regions and (D) Northern Ireland was in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 200506.

James Plaskitt: The figures provided are for the department, all its agencies and non-departmental public bodies and cover vehicle purchase costs and car hire and associated running costs. The department does not collect centrally information in the agency or geographic format requested and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
	
		Departmental annual expenditure on vehicle purchaseand car hire ()
		
			 Period Vehicle purchase Car hire 
		
		
			 200203 9,614,432 1,408,009 
			 200304 4,209,396 1,015,311 
			 200405 6,508,943 908,521 
			 200506(43) 4,000,000 600,000 
		
	
	(43) Anticipated

Departmental Expenditure

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what expenditure on (a) buildings and (b) insurance of buildings and staff was by (i) his Department and (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body, (B) executive agency and (C) other public body for which his Department is responsible in (1) Scotland, (2) Wales, (3) each English region and (4) Northern Ireland in each of the last three financial years; and what the planned expenditure is for 200506 in each case.

Anne McGuire: A full response is not available from standard information systems in the format requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. A partial response has therefore been provided.
	(i) (a) (b) The Department's estate has been sold or transferred under a PFI partnership deal to Land Securities Trillium (LST) and in return for the payment of a unitary charge, LST is responsible for providing a full facilities management service across the estate. As payments are made for the service as a whole the Department could provide a breakdown for the facilities, agencies and regions requested only at disproportionate cost.
	(ii)(A)(a) (b) (c) Listed as follows are the non-departmental public bodies which are not included in the PFI partnership deal with LST.
	
		
			
		
		
			 Remploy Ltd. 200203  
			  (a) Buildings 3,780,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 986,000 
			  200304  
			  (a) Buildings 2,255,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 1,273,000 
			  200405  
			  (a) Buildings 5,095,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 1,221,000 
			  Planned expenditure for 200506  
			  (a) Buildings 730,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 1,178,000 
			
			 Independent Living Funds (ILF) All buildings costs are met via the departmental PFI partnership with Land Securities Trillium 200203  
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 7,814 
			  200304  
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 9,973 
			  200405  
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 9,720 
			  Planned expenditure for 200506  
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 11,700 
			
			 Disability Rights Commission. The figures for expenditure on buildings cover all property costs for example rents, repairs, running costs and any mandatory insurance. In accordance with Treasury and departmental policy the terms of the DRC's financial memorandum preclude the Commission from taking out any commercial insurance without the prior approval of the Department, other than third party insurance required by the Road Traffic Acts and any other insurance which is a statutory obligation or which is permitted in paragraph 30.4.2 of Government Accounting. 200203  
			  (a) Buildings 1,004,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff n/a 
			  200304  
			  (a) Buildings 1,079,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff n/a 
			  200405  
			  (a) Buildings 1,013,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff n/a 
			  Planned expenditure for 200506  
			  (a) Buildings 1,329,342 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff n/a 
			
			 Private Pensions Fund (PPF) Established 6 April 2005 Planned expenditure for 200506  
			  (a) Buildings 556,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 10,000 
			
			 The Pensions Regular (TPR) Established 6 April 2005 Planned expenditure for 200506  
			  (a) Buildings 1,900,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff 50,000 
		
	
	n/a = Not available.
	
		(ii)(B)(a)(b)(c)Executive agencies
		
			
		
		
			 Health and Safety Executive 200203 information has now been archived and can only be provided at disproportionate cost 200304  
			  (a) Buildings:  
			  Scotland 1,945,740 
			  Wales 260,506 
			  London HQ 5,462,639 
			  East and South East 2,225,177 
			  Midlands 1,919,605 
			  South West 367,464 
			  North West 4,931,070 
			  Yorkshire and North East 1,502,751 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff:  
			  Scotland 10,485 
			  Wales 1,535 
			  London HQ 0 
			  East and South East 22,887 
			  Midlands 9,145 
			  South West 8,301 
			  North West 10,221 
			  Yorkshire and North East 14,777 
			
			  200405  
			  (a) Buildings:  
			  Scotland 2,147,423 
			  Wales 264,580 
			  London HQ 6,120,556 
			  East and South East 2,257,637 
			  Midlands 2,180,534 
			  South West 496,212 
			  North West 5,078,636 
			  Yorkshire and North East 1,563,863 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff:  
			  Scotland 11,292 
			  Wales 1,826 
			  London HQ 0 
			  East and South East 18,387 
			  Midlands 10,499 
			  South West 9,575 
			  North West 7,285 
			  Yorkshire and North East 16,780 
			
			  Planned expenditure 200506  
			  (a) Buildings:  
			  Scotland 2,272,678 
			  Wales 325,520 
			  London HQ 6,115,630 
			  East and South East 2,286,326 
			  Midlands 2,271,892 
			  South West 459,331 
			  North West 5,064,025 
			  Yorkshire and North East 1,634,265 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings and staff:  
			  Scotland 10,989 
			  Wales 1,020 
			  London HQ 0 
			  East and South East 17,477 
			  Midlands 10,168 
			  South West 8,062 
			  North West 6,606 
			  Yorkshire and North East 18,550 
		
	
	
		
			
		
		
			 The Rent Servicebecame part of DWP in April 2004. The figure includes rent, rates, insurance and service charges on all our leases, both for occupied and unoccupied property. It does not include capital expenditure on refurbishments and fit cuts. The Rent Service is unable to breakdown costs in the format requested without incurring disproportionate costs and information is not available by region. 200405 5,522,136 
			  200506 5,085,839 
		
	
	
		(ii)(C)(a)(b)(c)Other public bodies
		
			
		
		
			 Motability 200203  
			  (a) Buildings 208,630 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings 11,211 
			  200304  
			  (a) Buildings 196,822 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings 13,857 
			  200405  
			  (a) Buildings 259,263 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings 18,929 
			  Planned expenditure for 200506  
			  (a) Buildings 277,946 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings 19,872 
			
			 The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) 200203  
			  (a) Buildings 194,910 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings 14,470 
			  200304  
			  (a) Buildings 259,914 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings 19,051 
			  200405  
			  (a) Buildings 247,328 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings 22,891 
			  Planned expenditure for 200506  
			  (a) Buildings 286,000 
			  (b) Insurance of buildings 10,000

Departmental Staff

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his latest estimate is of the cost to be included in the departmental expenditure limits for involuntary and voluntary staff exit schemes in (a) 200506, (b) 200607 and (c) 200708; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 28 November 2006
	The latest estimate of the cost to be included in the departmental expenditure limit on voluntary and voluntary exits is in the following table.
	
		
			   million 
		
		
			 200506 213 
			 200607 85 
			 200708 205

Departmental Staff

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has to change the London allowance of its staff; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions no longer has separate London allowances for its staff. Instead the Department has four pay zones which all attract different rates of basic pay: inner London; outer London; specified location pay zones, which are a number of offices in the South East which have experienced recruitment difficulties in the past; and national, which covers the rest of the country. The difference between pay rates in the national zone and inner London differs for each pay scale, but is generally about 3,500.
	The pay scales are fixed until July 2007 as part of a three year pay deal agreed with the unions in 2004. The negotiations with the unions about the detail of pay 2007 will cover the full range of pay arrangements, including the approach to geographic pay.

Departmental Staff

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department are paid on a performance-related basis.

Anne McGuire: All employees below senior civil service level are eligible for bonuses, depending on their level of performance. For members of the senior civil service both their bonuses and their base pay increases are dependent on performance.

Disability Symbol

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the criteria are for use by an organisation of the two tick disability symbol; under what circumstances organisations lose the right to use the symbol; and how many organisations have lost the right to use the symbol in each of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: The Disability Symbol does not apply in Belfast North as the scheme does not operate in Northern Ireland. However, in the rest of the UK, organisations applying for symbol status must agree to meet commitments, which cover guaranteeing an interview for disabled people who meet the minimum requirements for the job, consultation with disabled employees on developing and using their abilities, retention, disability awareness and review.

Front-line Staff

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what definition he uses of front-line staff as referred to in the introduction to the 2005 departmental report.

Anne McGuire: The front-line staff referred to in the introduction to the 2005 departmental report are defined as those staff that have regular, direct contact with customers. The definition is included in the Department's Efficiency Technical Note, which is published on the Department's website.

Full-time Carers (Financial Support)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what financial support the Government have made available to full-time carers since 1997.

Anne McGuire: The Government's national carers strategy, which we developed with carers and the organisations that represent them and published in 1999, has achieved much in improving the financial support for carers, including older carers, through carer's allowance and other benefits, and through introduction of the carers grant to support local authorities in providing breaks and services for carers. Carers have access to the full range of social security benefits depending on their individual circumstances.
	We have extended access to carer's allowance to carers aged 65 and over through abolition of the age limit which precluded them from claiming the benefit; extended entitlement to carer's allowance for up to eight weeks after the death of the person being cared for; linked the amount, net of allowable expenses, that a carer's allowance recipient can earn from paid employment to the level of the annually increased national insurance lower earnings limit; and increased in April 2001 the carer premium in income support and other income-related benefits by an extra 10 a week on top of the normal uprating.
	Since 1997, the number of carers receiving carer's allowance has increased by 21 percent. to over 437,000, with a further 287,000 entitled to but not in receipt of carer's allowance (because they receive another income maintenance benefit). Expenditure on the benefit has increased by 26 percent. in real terms (at 200506 prices) and is expected to be over 1.1 billion in 200506. Some 207,000 carers under 60 years of age also receive extra help through the carer premium in income support, and over 164,000 pension credit recipients (households) receive the additional amount for carers.
	In addition, most carers entitled to carer's allowance are credited with national insurance contributions to protect their entitlement to state pension and around two million carers will benefit from the special arrangements we have made for them in the state second pension.
	In the last local government finance settlement we confirmed our commitment to continue the carers grant beyond 2006. Until at least the end of the 200708 financial year, provision for the grant will be 185 million a year.
	Source:
	Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study Data May 05

Gas Safety

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many deaths occurred due to carbon monoxide poisoning in each of the last 10 years; and how many of these deaths involved (a) liquid petroleum gas, (b) fire and explosions, (c) exposure to unburnt gas from piped gas and (d) exposure to carbon dioxide from piped gas.

Anne McGuire: An analysis of gas-related incidents reported to the Health and Safety Executive in the last 10 years shows the following breakdown of fatalities from exposure to carbon monoxide (CO), fire and explosions, and other exposure (these are primarily from exposure to unburnt gas from piped gas):
	
		Number of gas-related fatalities by incident kind and year
		
			  Exposure to CO Fire and explosion 
			  Piped Gas LPG Piped Gas LPG Other exposure(44) Total 
		
		
			 199596 29 (45) 6 (45)  35 
			 199697 29 2 9   40 
			 199798 24 4 8   36 
			 199899 29 8 8 3  48 
			 199900 18 8 10   36 
			 200001 20 5 9 1  35 
			 200102 15 7 5   27 
			 200203 17 3 4 1  25 
			 200304 8 3 5  2 18 
			 200405(46) 16 2 2  2 22 
			 Grand total 205 42 66 5 4 322 
		
	
	(44) Information on 'other exposures' was not collected prior to 200304.
	(45) In the case of exposure to CO and fire  explosion, these are separated into those from piped gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
	(46) The figures for 200405 are provisional.
	Notes:
	1. HSE does not collect information on exposure to carbon dioxide.
	2. Information on LPG was not collected separately prior to 199697.
	3. These figures may not correspond with official statistics because the analysis has been conducted using a different source.

Gas Safety

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prosecutions there have been by the Health and Safety Executive of unregistered gas installers in each of the last 10 years; and how many of these were successful.

Anne McGuire: The number of prosecutions relating to unregistered gas installers is as follows:
	
		
			  Reg 3(3)1 Reg 3(7)2 Total 
			  Total number of prosecution actions taken Of which: Convictions Total number of prosecution actions taken Of which: Convictions Total number of prosecution actions taken Of which: Convictions 
		
		
			 199697 36 33 0 0 36 33 
			 199798 57 53 0 0 57 53 
			 199899 56 51 0 0 56 51 
			 19992000 50 39 3 0 53 39 
			 200001 23 22 8 8 31 30 
			 200102 27 17 4 0 31 17 
			 200203 34 32 12 11 46 43 
			 200304 20 18 7 7 27 25 
			 200405(49) 21 20 5 5 (50)26 (29) (50)25 (28) 
		
	
	(47) Regulation 3(3) requires installers to be a member of a class of persons approved by HSE (i.e. CORGI registered).
	(48) Regulation 3(7) prohibits anyone from falsely pretending to be a member of a class of persons (i.e. CORGI registered).
	(49) The information for 200405 is provisional.
	(50) In 200405, there were also three successful prosecutions under Reg 3 which have not been allocated to a sub-reg number. In summary 29 prosecutions were made, 28 of which were successful.
	Note:
	The question seeks information for each of the last 10 years. The table sets out data from 199697. Access to older data is not readily available and would require the restoration of archived databases.
	Source:
	Health and Safety Executive, Safety and Enforcement Statistics.

Gas Safety

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much funding has been spent by his Department on reducing rates of carbon monoxide poisoning in each of the past 10 years; and what steps the Government is taking (a) to promote gas safety awareness and (b) to prevent deaths by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Anne McGuire: The amount spent by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on campaigns to publicise the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in each of the past 10 years was as follows:
	
		
			  Amount () 
		
		
			 199596 (51)1,374,000 
			 199697 101,000 
			 199798 695,000 
			 199899 82,000 
			 19992000 150,000 
			 200001 150,000 
			 200102 250,000 
			 200203 150,000 
			 200304 112,000 
			 200405 100,000 
		
	
	(51) Inc. TV and radio.
	Additionally, during the period, 101,000 was spent maintaining the Gas Advice Helpline.
	During 2006, HSE is undertaking a major review of the gas safety regime and this will be launched at a stakeholder forum on 20 February. The review is aimed at ensuring that the gas safety regime is based on the most sensible and proportionate approach to managing the risk. It will include research to examine the scale of the CO problem and awareness of the risks.
	Other interdepartmental efforts to promote CO awareness have included:
	HSE has worked with ODPM on their Home Fire Risk Check Initiative, where, in addition to smoke alarm installation, funding is also available for fire and rescue services to purchase and install a number of carbon monoxide detectors to offer additional protection.
	DH produced a leaflet in autumn 2005 about domestic carbon monoxide poisoning that is endorsed by HSE, industry and the registered charity CO-Gas Safety. In his update newsletter of 11 January 2006, the Chief Medical Officer gave advice to all doctors in England on how to recognise CO poisoning.

GPs (Personal Capability Assessments)

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes in the role of general practitioners he expects in relation to personal capability assessments for benefits.

Anne McGuire: General Practitioners do not play any direct role in the personal capability assessment; they do however provide medical information as part of the initial evidence gathering process.
	We will be reviewing this process, including the forms that General Practitioners have to complete, to increase compliance with requests for medical information and the quality of the information provided. In addition the claimant's General Practitioner will receive a copy of the new capability report at the end of the assessment process identifying health interventions which would help the individual improve their functional capability so that they would be more likely to return to work.
	Our Green Paper; A new deal for welfare: Empowering people to work; has proposals for measures to support this. These include proposals designed to help General Practitioners support patients with health conditions and disabilities to remain in or return quickly to work thus reducing the likelihood of them having to claim incapacity benefits.

Health and Safety Executive

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the Health and Safety Executive was involved in (a) recommending and (b) approving planning permission for the development of (i) the Buncefield Oil Depot in Hemel Hempstead and (ii) residential or business properties near the depot; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: Since 1995 the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has advised the local planning authority on 28 planning applications for developments near the Buncefield Depot. HSE advised against four proposals and advised that a further seven should be allowed only if additional conditions were met. So far as HSE is aware, the local planning authority followed HSE's advice in all 28 cases. No records are available concerning the original development of the Depot, which took place before HSE was established.

Health and Safety Executive

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the role of the Health and Safety Executive is in (a) approving and (b) commenting on planning applications relating to (i) fuel depots and (ii) developments near fuel depots.

Anne McGuire: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is consulted under the Planning (Hazardous Substances) Regulations 1992 by a hazardous substances authority before the authority decides whether to issue a consent for an establishment, such as a fuel depot, to hold a quantity of prescribed hazardous substances above a specified threshold. HSE advises the authority on the hazards and risks presented by the proposed substances and supplies a consultation distance around the establishment. Before granting planning permission for specified subsequent developments within this consultation distance, the local planning authority is required to consult HSE under the Town and Country Planning (General Development Procedure) Order 1995.
	HSE's role is to advise the hazardous substances authority or the local planning authority on whether or not to grant consent or planning permission. In all cases the decision is made by the relevant authority.

Incapacity Benefit

Malcolm Rifkind: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people aged 25 years or under claimed incapacity benefit in each year for which figures are available since 2000.

Anne McGuire: Information on the number of claims made broken down by age is not available. The available information, caseloads for those under 25, is in the following table.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants aged 25 years or under; Great Britain.
		
			 May IB/SDA IB SDA 
		
		
			 2000 194,900 133,800 61,100 
			 2001 204,200 143,600 60,600 
			 2002 204,900 173,800 31,100 
			 2003 208,900 184,600 24,300 
			 2004 210,300 192,600 17,700 
			 2005 201,000 189,600 11,400 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
	2. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disability allowance, including IB credits-only cases.
	3. Figures place 25-year-olds in the '25 years or under' group.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data.

Incapacity Benefit

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of incapacity benefit claimants in Gravesham constituency who might be able to work if provided with support.

Margaret Hodge: No formal assessment has been made.

Incapacity Benefit

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Tooting are in receipt of incapacity benefit, broken down by age, gender and ethnicity.

Anne McGuire: Information on the ethnicity of incapacity benefits claimants is not available. The available information is in the following table.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance claimants in the Tooting parliamentary constituency, as atAugust 2005.
		
			  All persons Men Women 
		
		
			 All ages 3,400 2,000 1,400 
			 Under 25 200 100 100 
			 2534 500 300 200 
			 3544 800 500 300 
			 4549 400 300 200 
			 5054 500 200 300 
			 5559 600 300 300 
			 6064 300 300 (52) 
			 65 and over (52) (52) (52) 
		
	
	(52) Nil or negligible.
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. 'Claimant' figures include all IB/SDA claimants, including IB credits only cases. Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent.

Incapacity Benefit

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many recipients of incapacity benefit in Tamworth had their benefit reduced in each of the last five years, broken down by reason; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many people living in Tamworth constituency claimed incapacity benefit in each year since 1997; and what proportion of the working age population in the constituency this represents in each year.

Anne McGuire: The only reason for a claimant's incapacity benefit to be reduced is the receipt of an occupational pension in excess of 85.00 a week. The number of cases so affected in Tamworth is too small to be able to provide a precise figure.
	Information on the number of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in the Tamworth parliamentary constituency is in the following table. Working-age population figures are not available for parliamentary constituencies, so the information about proportions cannot be estimated.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants in the St Albans parliamentary constituency.
		
			 August Number 
		
		
			 1997 3,800 
			 1998 3,600 
			 1999 3,400 
			 2000 3,500 
			 2001 3,600 
			 2002 3,600 
			 2003 3,700 
			 2004 3,600 
			 2005 3,600 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The parliamentary constituency figures for the years 1997 to 1998 have been produced using the 5 per cent. data and have been rated up proportionally using the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. IB/SDA totals.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
	3. 'Claimant' figures include all IB and SDA, including IB credits only cases.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. Samples from 1997 to 1998 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 per cent. data thereafter.

Incapacity Benefit

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many recipients of incapacity benefit in St. Albans had their benefit reduced in each of the last five years, broken down by reason; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many people living in St. Albans claimed incapacity benefit in each year since 1997; and what proportion of the working age population in the constituency the figure represents in each year.

Anne McGuire: The only reason for a claimant's incapacity benefit to be reduced is the receipt of an occupational pension in excess of 85.00 a week. The number of cases so affected in St. Albans is too small to be able to provide a precise figure.
	Information on the number of incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in the St. Albans parliamentary constituency is in the table. Working-age population figures are not available for parliamentary constituencies, so the information about proportions cannot be estimated.
	
		Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) claimants in the St. Albans parliamentary constituency.
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 August 1997 2,800 
			 August 1998 2,400 
			 August 1999 2,400 
			 August 2000 2,400 
			 August 2001 2,400 
			 August 2002 2,400 
			 August 2003 2,400 
			 August 2004 2,400 
			 August 2005 2,500 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The parliamentary constituency figures for the years 1997 to 1998 have been produced using the five percent. data and have been rated up proportionally using the Great Britain WPLS 100 percent. IB/SDA totals.
	2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	3. Claimant' figures include all IB and SDA, including IB credits only cases.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate, five percent. samples from 1997 to 1998 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100 percent. data thereafter

Incapacity Benefit

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new (a) applicants and (b) recipients there were of incapacity benefits in each of the last five years.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested. The available information on the number of claims processed each year is in the table.
	
		Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claims processed and awarded
		
			 Period (January to December) Claims processed Claims where payment was awarded Claims where NI credits-only were awarded No award 
		
		
			 2001 811,715 258,225 290,300 263,190 
			 2002 806,550 274,410 422,010 110,130 
			 2003 787,525 281,435 428,395 77,695 
			 2004 759,545 261,265 366,475 131,800 
			 2005 691,760 242,745 306,875 142,140 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	2. 'No award' figures include cases where conditions of entitlement were not met, together with 'transferred out', 'withdrawn', 'deleted' and 'accident declaration' cases.
	3. Nl = National Insurance.
	4. Figures for overseas cases are excluded.
	Source:
	MISP 100 per cent. counts.

Learning Disabled (Employment)

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of people with a learning disability are in paid employment; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: The spring 2005 release of the Labour Force Survey shows that proportion of people with a learning difficulty in paid employment was 17.2 per cent.
	The Labour Force Survey is unable to differentiate between people with a learning difficulty and people with a learning disability, and groups them together within the above category. Officials are currently examining the feasibility of future releases having separate categories.
	It should also be noted that the above employment rate has been calculated using 'main health condition', and thus will not include people who's learning difficulty may be their second or subsequent health condition. The figure should be used as a guide rather than as fact.

Ministerial Travel

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how many occasions since 7 July he has used the London underground in connection with his official duties.

Anne McGuire: The Secretary of State has used the London underground once in connection with his official duties since his appointment as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 2 November 2005.
	Ministers use public transport wherever possible and practical to complete their journey and all ministerial travel on official business is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in travel by Ministers.

Pension Credit (Denton and Reddish)

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Denton and Reddish constituency receive the pension credit.

Stephen Timms: The number of people in receipt of pension credit in the Denton and Reddish constituency as at November 2005 is 5,900 individuals (5,000 households).
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2. Caseload figures are taken from the GMS scan at 25 November 2005, rated up to give end-month estimates.
	3. Pension credit (PC) replaced minimum income guarantee (MIG) on 6 October 2003. Existing MIG recipients were automatically converted onto pension credit on that date (assuming they still met the eligibility criteria).
	4. Household recipients are those people who claim PC either on behalf of themselves only or on behalf of a household. This number is equal to the number of households in receipt of PC. The number of individual beneficiaries is the claimants plus their partners.
	5. Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.
	6. These figures are early estimates. Operational processing times mean that a number of claim commencements and terminations are not reflected in the figures. The final figures incorporated within the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS) will take account of such cases.
	Source: Information Directorate: 100 per cent. data from the Generalised Matching Service (GMS)
	Pension credit scan taken as at 25 November 2005

Pensions (Direct Payment)

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether it is his policy to stop an individual's pension payments if he or she refuses to receive pension payments by the direct payment method.

James Plaskitt: It is not the Departments policy to stop an individual's pension payments if he or she refuses to receive pension payments by the direct payment method.
	Direct payment into an account is the safest, most reliable way to receive payment and in most cases provides the greatest range of access to cash and other financial services. Customers who do not provide account details are paid by cheque. However, we do not believe that cheques are appropriate for the vast majority of our customers.

Personal Capability Assessments

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his Department's estimate is of the average cost of undertaking a medical examination for the personal capability assessment.

Anne McGuire: This information is confidential and cannot be disclosed as to do so may prejudice the commercial interests of the Department and/or its suppliers.

Personal Capability Assessments

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of statutory sick pay claimants (a) received personal capability assessments (PCAs) in each year since 1997 and (b) he expects to receive PCAs in each year to 2008.

Anne McGuire: The personal capability assessment does not apply to statutory sick pay because, in that instance, incapacity for work is judged in relation to the job that the person has been doing under their contract of employment.

Post Office Card Accounts

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the timetable is for migrating Post Office card account customers to other forms of bank accounts.

James Plaskitt: Government funding for the Post Office card account will continue until March 2010 as always planned.
	We are starting some small scale pilots shortly to test various approaches to moving people from having their benefit or pension paid into a Post Office card account to payments into a bank account. Our emphasis will be on those bank accounts which can be used at post office branches. The pilots will help us see how customers react, including how many people continue to use the Post Office.
	The pilots will run for about three weeks. We will then evaluate the results and discuss the findings with the Post Office. We will aim to develop a joint strategy with the Post Office to move customers from the Post Office card account. Our priority will be to ensure that this is a straightforward process for the customers themselves. Our timetable and strategy will be informed by the results of the pilots. There is no reason why the viability of post offices should be threatened if customers continue to draw cash at the Post Office after moving on from the Post Office card account.

Post Office Card Accounts

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make a statement on the three pilot schemes his Department plans to operate during February to test the approaches for moving recipients of pensions and benefits away from Post Office card accounts.

James Plaskitt: holding answer 6 February 2006
	Government funding for the Post Office card account will end in March 2010 as always planned. All existing Post Office card account customers will still be able to use the Post Office to collect their benefit or pension if they wish by using a bank account there25 different bank accounts can be accessed at Post Office branches now, and we hope there could be more in the future.
	We are starting some small-scale pilots shortly to test various approaches to moving people from having their benefit or pension paid into a Post Office card account to payments into a bank account. Our emphasis will be on those bank accounts which can be used at Post Office branches, to help the Post Office retain as much business as possible. The pilots will help us see how customers react, including how many people continue to use the Post Office.
	The pilots will run for about three weeks. We will then evaluate the results and discuss the findings with the Post Office. We will aim to develop a joint strategy with the Post Office to move customers from the Post Office card account. Our priorities will be to ensure that this is a straightforward process for the customers themselves and to help the Post Office retain as much business as possible. The pilots will be important in identifying the best way to do this.
	I understand the Post Office is developing new banking and savings products which will be suitable for some existing Post Office card account customers. Our pilots will also help the Post Office design these products to ensure they meet customers' needs. We would like every DWP customer who currently has a Post Office card account to do their banking at the Post Office if that is what they want.
	As the National President of the National Federation of SubPostmasters has recognised, although the Post Office card account itself has a limited life, there are opportunities to convert customers to other Post Office services.
	That is why it is important that the Government and Post Office should work closely together to ensure customers are fully aware of developments and continue to have a range of choices in how they access their money. Our pilots will ensure that our future payments strategy between now and 2010 reflects the needs of our customers and helps the Post Office develop its proposed new banking and savings products.

Post Office Ltd

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the service contracts in place between his Department and Post Office Ltd.

James Plaskitt: The service contracts in place between the Department for Work and Pensions and Post Office Ltd are:
	1. The Post Office card account contract,
	2. A contract to ensure that customers who are receiving payment by cheque can continue to receive payments in the event of disruption to normal delivery services.

Public Service Agreement Data

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the data to measure 2004 public service agreement target No. 2 are published.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions 2004 public service agreement target No. 2 is a joint target with the Department for Education and Skills. The target appears as target No. 1 in the Department for Education and Skills public service agreement.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided on 10 January 2006, Official Report, column 517W, by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Children and Families (Beverley Hughes).

Public Service Agreement Data

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the data required to measure 2004 public service agreement target No. 3 are from consistent data sources.

Anne McGuire: The Department for Work and Pensions 2004 public service agreement target No. 3 is a joint target with the Department for Education and Skills. The target appears as target No. 2 in the Department for Education and Skills public service agreement.
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer provided on 9 January 2006, Official Report, column 426W, by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Children and Families (Beverley Hughes).

Social Security Benefits

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) identifiable administration costs and (b) Scotland's share of non-identifiable administration costs associated with the delivery of social security benefits in Scotland were in 200405; and what the (i) identifiable and (ii) non-identifiable costs were per benefit recipient of administration.

James Plaskitt: The administration budgets regime overseen by Treasury does not monitor country or regional administration costs separately. In addition administration costs are only reported at a strategic objective level.
	Non-identifiable expenditure is deemed to be incurred on behalf of the UK as a whole.
	The Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis published annually by Treasury contains information on country and regional analysis of departmental expenditure.

Statutory Instruments

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many statutory instruments introduced by his Department were (a) withdrawn, (b) amended by a further statutory instrument and (c) reprinted because of defective drafting in each session since 1997; and what steps he (i) is taking and (ii) plans to take to prevent further such instances.

Anne McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested. The Department for Work and Pensions was formed in June 2001 from the Department of Social Security and parts of the former Department for Education and Employment including the Employment Service. The information in this response relates to the DWP and the DSS. Since 1997, four draft statutory instruments have been withdrawn and 23 instruments issued free of charge because of an error or defect in an earlier instrument.
	The Department lays in the order of 90 statutory instruments a year. We have a range of measures in place to provide expert advice and training to lawyers and officials involved in the process and aim to ensure that lessons are learned.

Vandalism

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the acts of vandalism which have been perpetrated (a) inside and (b) on the outside of his Department's buildings in the last 12 months.

Anne McGuire: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.